The Philippines will make its case this week before the United Nations (UN) on the need to strengthen the international body’s monitoring mechanisms, including the conduct of due diligence on allegations made on President Rodrigo Duterte regarding the war on drugs “in light of contentious and flawed information surrounding these cases.”

The government contingent will also restate Duterte’s commitment to human rights despite the relentless attacks of rights violations from his critics mainly based on his abrasive statements against criminals.

The Palace had imposed conditions on UN special rapporteur Agnes Callamard who had proposed to conduct a fact-finding mission in the country regarding the war on drugs.

Callamard demanded the removal of the conditions but the President stood firm on the need for him to be heard in the duration of her visit.

The meeting is viewed as an important opportunity to engage UN human rights mechanisms.

The delegation, headed by Presidential Human Rights Committee Undersecretary Severo Catura, will also report to the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (UN WGEID) on the country’s sincerity in ensuring human rights promotion.

The Philippine mission will make the presentation during the UN-WGEID’s 117th Session in Sarajevo this week. The UN agency is tasked to look into alleged cases of enforced and involuntary disappearances that took place in the country from 1975 to 2012.

The Philippine Mission in Geneva, which regularly engages the WGEID, views this meeting as an important opportunity to engage UN human rights mechanisms, especially after the recent reelection of the Philippines to a fifth-term in the UN Human Rights Council from 2019 to 2021

The UN WGEID is part of the special procedures system of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights which is a central element of the UN human rights machinery.

It is composed of five independent experts who examine cases of enforced involuntary disappearances, with the primary task of assisting families in determining the fate or whereabouts of their family members who reportedly disappeared.

“Catura will seek to convince the UN WGEID of the sincerity of the Philippine government in ensuring not only the protection of its people but also the accountability of law enforcement and security sectors,” the Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

Apart from Catura, joining the delegation are officials from the Department of Justice and other agencies.

Ambassador Evan Garcia, Philippine Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva, said the delegation will be presenting the various domestic mechanisms that the Duterte administration has put in place to address alleged enforced or involuntary disappearances.

Garcia said the panel will also discuss the government’s current international engagements such as through the UN Universal Periodic Review and with concerned UN bodies such as the Human Rights Committee that monitors compliance with obligations under the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights.