Costly demonization fails

“Armed with truth, the Philippines had shown the huge leaps it attained in improving the lives of Filipinos against the lies being peddled about the existence of an oppressive regime.

As expected, the anti-drugs war documentary “On the President’s Orders” that tries to link President Rody Duterte to his political opponents’ claims of extrajudicial killings will be used as evidence by the International Criminal Court (ICC) as part of its ongoing preliminary examination.

Famed co-directors of the yellow production, James Jones and Olivier Sarbil, confirmed the ICC asked for the film to be submitted as evidence, which was a few days after trounced Otso Diretso candidate Jose Manuel Diokno said so.

The clear objective of the costly undertaking was to drum up the allegations against Rody amid the fallout of the shameful spat between lawyers Jude Sabio, who submitted the crimes against humanity complaint and his handler, putschist Antonio Trillanes IV.

Sabio and Trillanes are currently embroiled in a brawl over the share in the money for their efforts to destabilize the government.

The spin in the dramatization of the anti-narcotics push was that “Duterte’s controversial campaign, which includes extrajudicial violence as a crime solution, has stoked international ire. The official death toll of the three-year campaign is put by the country’s government at around 5,000 but activists claim it could be as high as 27,000.”

The 27,000-figure was concocted by Trillanes from news reports which was fed by yellow spin doctors.

To promote the movie, it was also mentioned the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) is also investigating the purge as if calling attention to the UN body, which is currently in a one-month session.

Contrary to what was being billed against Rody, many independent members of the UN body are giving positive reviews to the country at the ongoing 42nd session of the UNHRC in Geneva, Switzerland.

UN independent expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order Livingstone Sewanyana of Uganda noted that democracy is at work in the Philippines, but “there are negative portrayals about the country by critics.”

He conceded that the challenge for the Philippines is to “demystify” the negative information being spread against it.

On providing social justice, Sewanyana commended the efforts of Rody’s administration in distributing lands in Hacienda Luisita and in Boracay to farmers.

Special rapporteur on the right to development Saad Alfarargi of Egypt lauded the country’s socio-economic achievements that uplift the dignity of Filipinos, citing the responsiveness of the Philippine Development Plan 2017-2022, which is anchored on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals that aim for a strongly rooted, comfortable and secure life for the majority of Filipinos.

Alfarargi even encouraged the Philippines to “fight back” against false information, and to continue its active participation in international and regional human rights discussions “to have the right image” that it wanted to project.

UN special rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery Urmila Bhoola of South Africa noted the Philippines “can play a very key role in Southeast Asia to encourage other countries to take positive steps in addressing contemporary forms of slavery.”

“Other countries stand to learn from the Philippines,” she noted, while citing efforts of the country to protect overseas Filipino workers from falling victim to modern-day slavery.

Bhoola remembered her stay in the Philippines when Rody was still mayor of Davao City, when she noted that he made sure that the city “was free from all forms of child labor.” And that while she hears negative news about the country, she always remembers that “the Philippines is a wonderful country with the nicest people.”

Despite efforts of the opponents of Rody for the nation to be treated as a pariah in the UN body, the Philippines remained an active member of the UNHRC for a fifth term, which makes the government responsible in upholding and strengthening the UN Special Procedures System, which supervises the UN Special Rapporteurs and Independent Experts by providing it with updated and validated the information.

Through all the demonization happening, the truth has a way of establishing its presence and debunking the costly vilification efforts, which usually accompany high-profile meetings such as the UNHRC annual sessions.

Armed with truth, the Philippines had shown the huge leaps it attained in improving the lives of Filipinos against the lies being peddled about the existence of an oppressive regime.