Manila Philippines – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s Administrative Order no. 22 to form a “Special Committee on Human Rights Coordination” gains various reactions from lawmakers, and opposition.
The order states that the purpose of this super body is to promote and protect human rights in the country.
“The Chief Executive ordered the creation of a “Special Committee on Human Rights Coordination’ to carry out Administrative Order No. 22 which aims to enhance the mechanisms for the promotion and protection of human rights in the Philippines,” according to the statement issued by Presidential Communications Office (PCO).
READ: https://pco.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/ao22-2024.png
Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin was appointed as special committee chairman, while Department of Justice secretary Boying Remulla co-chairman, as well as the secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) and members.
But for Bayan Muna Executive Vice President Carlos Zarate, he said there is nothing special about the formulated special body committee.
Zarate said, if the Marcos’ administration is really sincere in their pursuit against human rights, they should start disbanding the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).
This is said to be the cause of the violation of human rights in the country in the past year.
“If Marcos Jr. is truly sincere in the promotion and protection of human rights, his administration should start by abolishing the NTF-ELCAC, the main government machinery created by his disgraced predecessor that promotes and enables the massive and grave violation of human rights in the country these past years and until now,” Zarate said in a statement.
The Makabayan Coalition also criticized the government’s strengthening of the alleged inhumane Anti-Terror Law.
As for Albay 1st District Representative Edcel Lagman, he said the Marcos administration should have ratified the agreement with the United Nations to lose the protection of human rights defenders in the country.