UNHRC exposes disconnect

Iceland and the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) should have done their homework first before issuing the statement assailing President Rody Duterte in his commitment to end crimes and the drugs menace in the country.

The recent Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey would be a fair measure of how the public perceives the effectivity of the Duterte administration’s campaign to restore public order.

According to the poll done last March 23 to 27, respondents who fell victims to common crimes such as pickpocket, robbery, break-ins, vehicle theft and physical violence, fell to 6.6 percent from 7.6 percent or if extrapolated to the entire population, nearly 200,000 Filipinos escaped the clutches of criminals.

More than half of respondents said safety on the streets has improved and the same number said fears of burglary, unsafe streets and presence of drug addicts have declined.

Despite the negative bias of the survey, which asked respondents of their fears about robbery and the drugs scourge in their communities nearly half of the individuals surveyed stated they didn’t experience any instance of a crime during the survey period.

The survey asked whether respondents were afraid robbers might break into their homes, if they are frightened to walk the streets at night and if there are many drug addicts in their neighborhood.

The survey found 54 percent indicating fear robbers might break into their houses, 46 percent indicating apprehension to walk in the street at night and 40 percent saying many people are addicted to banned drugs in their communities.

Respondents whose families were robbed of their personal property outside their homes were fewer in Visayas, unchanged in Mindanao and rose marginally in Metro Manila.

It was also up by 0.6 points in Luzon outside Manila.

Cases of break-ins fell in all areas based on the results of the survey.

Respondents who said a member of their families hurt from physical violence fell in Mindanao, Metro Manila and was steady in the Visayas and Luzon.

Fear of unsafe streets also fell in all areas except in Mindanao, according to the survey.

Presence of many drug addicts dropped in Luzon and the Visayas, but rose slightly in Metro Manila and Mindanao, according to the fourth quater survey.

Another SWS survey preceding the crime perception poll indicated that 78 percent of respondents were satisfied with the way democracy works in the country.

Satisfaction with the way democracy works had peaks of 70 percent in September 1992, 70 percent in July 1998, 68 percent in June 2010, and the record-high 86 percent in September 2016 during Rody’s term, according to SWS.

In contrast, the yellow mob and its foreign, mainly European, backers drum up the allegation he is a threat to democracy and that his war on drugs should be stopped since it breeds “extrajudicial killings.”

The UNHRC also called for the government to cooperate and for Rody to allow its special rapporteurs to descend into the country for the conduct of fact-finding missions on the war on drugs.

Rody’s call for a debate, for the probers to admit questions from him and they take an oath before answering Rody’s questions is also his assurance of fairness amid the clear political bias in the UNHRC move against Rody.

The UNHRC’s credibility has fallen to a low after the US, citing the need for the UN body to reform, decided to leave the organization.

The bias is too obvious as what the UNHRC alleges totally clashes with public sentiment contained in the recent surveys.

To most Filipinos, life is improving but the usual critics insist that Rody is a major threat.

The UNHRC observation may be true in terms of Rody’s threat to the political agenda of the yellow mob.