HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE PHILIPPINES

The concept of human rights may be problematic in the Philippines but it is a vital component of
most modern democracies.

Human rights allow a person to live with dignity and in peace, away from the abuses that can be
inflicted by abusive institutions or individuals. In fact, December 10 is considered as the United Nations
Human Rights Day. It commemorates the day the UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights in 1948.

But do we really know our human rights? According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy,
Human Rights refers to norms that aim to protect people from political, legal, and social abuses. The
United Nations (UN) defines human rights as universal and inalienable, interdependent and indivisible,
and equal and non-discriminatory.

Human rights protect us the actions of those who exercise power over us and help us to create a
world in which we can call to reach our full potential as human beings. But the fact remains that there are
rampant human rights violations around the world.

Rodrigo Duterte has launched a war on drugs that has resulted in the extrajudicial deaths of
thousands of alleged drug dealers and users across the country. The Philippine president sees drug dealing
and addiction as “major obstacles to the Philippines’ economic and social progress,” says John Gershman,
an expert on Philippine politics.

By early December, nearly 6,000 people had been killed: about 2,100 have died in police
operations and the remainder in what are called “deaths under investigation,” which is shorthand for
vigilante killings. There are also claims that half a million to seven hundred thousand people have
surrendered themselves to the police. More than 40,000 people have been arrested.

Although human rights organizations and political leaders have spoken out against the
crackdown, Duterte has been relatively successful at not having the legislature engaged in any serious
oversight of or investigation into this war.

“Drug dealers and drug addicts are a stigmatized group, and stigmatized groups always have
difficulty gaining political support for the defense of their rights.”

The Philippine judicial system is very slow and perceived as corrupt, enabling Duterte to act
proactively and address the issue of drugs in a non-constructive way with widespread violations of human
rights. Moreover, in the face of a corrupt, elite-dominated political system and a slow, ineffective, and
equally corrupt judicial system, people are willing to tolerate this politician who promised something and
is now delivering.

There are no trials, so there is no evidence that the people being killed are in fact drug dealers or
drug addicts. [This situation] shows the weakness of human rights institutions and discourse in the face
of a popular and skilled populist leader. It is different from college students being arrested under the
Marcos regime or activists being targeted under the first Aquino administration, when popular outcry was
aroused. Drug dealers and drug addicts are a stigmatized group, and stigmatized groups always have
difficulty gaining political support for the defense of their rights.
 Without a doubt, democracy and human rights are in retreat today, and not only in the
Philippines, but across all continents. What can be done to arrest this current period of democratic
recession?

We can and we must direct a righteous rage toward this trend, in a manner that is both purposive
and strategic. The road ahead will be difficult, but we must persevere, building solidarity to affirm a politics
of civility and inclusion, while employing non-violent strategies in our parliaments, our courts, our
cyberspaces, and our streets. Let us be emboldened by an unrelenting will to stand up for justice, and an
undying faith in humanity’s capacity for good. If we do not struggle, we will not overcome. We must push
back.

We need more democracy and not less of it, and we must uphold human rights for there is no
battle more important today. Democracy and human rights are important enablers of human
development that will create conditions for people to reach their full potential. As long as persons in any
part of the world remain deprived of their fundamental rights and freedom, we are all diminished.

If we are unable to ensure the respect, protection, and fulfillment of human rights and
fundamental freedoms of all—especially the poorest and the most marginalized—then the universal
human rights project will indeed mean nothing.