Terrorist tag on Pinay UN special rapporteur no ‘witch hunt’ —Roque

The inclusion of a Filipina United Nations special rapporteur on a list that of individuals that the government wants to be declared as "terrorists" for alleged involvement with communist insurgents is not meant to single out special rapporteurs in the Philippines.

"I assure everyone, including the international community, that this is not a witch hunt on UN special rapporteurs. Instead, perhaps, the UN rapporteur system should fine tune its selection process to ensure that individuals identified with terrorist groups are not given any mandate by the UN Human Rights Council," Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said in a press briefing at the Municipal Hall of Alimodian in Iloilo on Saturday.

Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, a UN special rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, was listed by the Department of Justice (DOJ) as a senior member of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), among the groups the government wants declared as terrorist, along with its armed wing New People's Army (NPA).

The DOJ seeks to formally declare Tauli-Corpuz, and 600 others alleged communist guerrillas, including Jose Maria Sison and peace negotiator Luis Jalandoni, as terrorists.

"To begin with, the CPP-NPA have already been declared a terrorist group by the US State Department and by the European Union. This move, therefore, only reinforces the classification that the CPP-NPA is a terrorist group," Roque said.

"Unfortunately, the UN special rapporteur for IDPs Victoria Tauli-Corpuz was also included because of intelligence information that she is somehow connected with the CPP-NPA," he added. 

Palace official urged Tauli-Corpuz to file a petition to dispute her classification as a "terrorist" before the courts.

"In any case, we are a civilized country in the Philippines, we will accord Victoria Corpuz inherent due process rights and the right to be heard," Roque added.

"We adhere to the rule of law, Corpuz can submit controverting evidence to what I'm sure the DOJ already has linking her to the CPP-NPA." —LBG, GMA News