Remulla: Civil society groups destroy country’s image abroad
‘I don’t think they have any agenda but to destroy our country and give our people a hard time’
Daily Tribune‘I don’t think they have any agenda but to destroy our country and give our people a hard time’
Several civil society groups are the ones destroying the image of the country abroad, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said on Monday.
His reaction came after several groups criticized his report before the United Nations Human Rights Council's 4th cycle of Universal Periodic Review in Geneva, Switzerland.
"We noticed that there are a lot of civil society organizations that were critical of what we were doing, but these are the same organizations that go to Europe to destroy the image of our country,"
Remulla said in a press conference.
He added: "I don't think they have any agenda but to destroy our country and give our people a hard time."
Led by Human Rights Watch, the groups scored Remulla for telling the UNHRC that the Philippines, as a predominantly Catholic nation, opposes the enactment of legislation legalizing divorce, the SOGIE bill (Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Expression Equality Bill, also known as the Anti-Discrimination Bill), and pro-LGBTQIA+ policies.
"These groups are somehow linked to the armed movement against the government, those linked to terrorism. Those who cry red-tagging or issues of this nature. Otherwise, I think our country is in the right direction," Remulla said in response to the groups' claim that he failed to convince the International community that the human rights situation in the country is improving.
He added that these groups have nothing good to say about the government in the first place.
Special rapporteurs invited
The Philippine government, he said, has invited three special rapporteurs to show the world, the country's commitment to combatting the sexual exploitation of children, preserving press freedom, and addressing extra-judicial killings.
He identified the rapporteurs as Mama Fatima Singhateh, Irene Khan, and Morris Tidball-Binz were invited to a special dialogue at the DoJ.
Singhateh is the special rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, while Khan handles press freedom and expression. Tidball-Binz, a forensic expert, will focus on extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary killings.
Special rapporteurs need an official invitation from host governments before they can visit.
Remulla led a Philippine delegation in the 41st session of the UNHRC UPR last week. UPR is a peer-review mechanism of the UNHRC where the human rights records of all countries are reviewed regularly.
It's the fourth time that the Philippines participated in the UPR. Previous reviews took place in 2008, 2012, and 2017.