PHL's seat at UNHRC shows int'l community's confidence in Duterte admin —Cayetano

The Philippines' winning a seat at the United Nations Human Rights Council shows the international community's confidence in the Duterte administration's human rights record, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said on Saturday.

“The numbers speak volumes of the confidence of the international community on the human rights record of the Duterte Administration and its vision of keeping each and every Filipino safe and secure,” he said in a statement.

With 165 out of 192 votes, the Philippines became one of the 17 countries elected to the UNHRC on Friday for the term 2018-2020.

The other countries include Bahrain, Cameroon, Somalia, Bangladesh, and Eritrea.

Cayetano thanked the members of the international community for their votes.

“We are really greatly honored as this is a vindication that fake news and baseless accusations have no place in modern-day human rights discussions,” he said.

“We thank human rights advocates around the world but also condemn a few who are morally corrupt and who use human rights for political and financial gain,” Cayetano added.

"To those who supported us we thank you for your commitment," he said.

However, he had a message for those who did not show support for the country's bid for the UNHRC.

"To those who did not support us, we will continue to prove ourselves,” Cayetano said.

The Philippines also ran for election in the UNHRC in 2015 wherein it got 113 votes, the Department of Foreign Affairs said.

This year, the votes for the Philippines tallied 165, despite moves from human rights groups to block the country's bid, Cayetano said.

He added that human rights has been politicized and weaponized by some nongovernment organizations "for their own financial gain" but these groups kept silent about abuses in other countries said to give them funding.

“This is the hypocrisy that the Philippines has been standing up against," Cayetano said.

Malacañang on Saturday expressed enthusiasm over the country's reelection to the UNHRC, and took a swipe at critics of the war on drugs.

In a statement, Presidential Spokesperson and Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo described the victory as "recognition that our government respects human rights and will not tolerate abuse by those in authority."

Panelo also considers the reelection as a "repudiation of the critics and detractors on President Duterte's unrelenting war against illegal drugs."

The Commission on Human Rights, meanwhile, said the election of the Philippines to the UNHRC puts pressure on the Duterte administration to address allegations of numerous rights violations.

The Human Rights Watch, which has earlier urged the UNHRC to probe the Duterte administration's war on drugs, said: "By putting forward serious rights violators and presenting only as many candidates as seats available, the regional groups risk undermining the council's credibility and effectiveness."

Opposition lawmaker and Magdalo party-list Representative Gary Alejano on Saturday said the Philippines has no right to be part of the UNHRC.

"It would be ironic na magiging miyembro tayo ng isang komisyon na magtataguyod at magpapatibay ng pagrespeto ng karapatang pantao sa buong mundo, tingin ko walang karapatan ang Pilipinas na maging bahagi niyan," Magdalo Party-list Rep. Gary Alejano said at a news forum in Quezon City. —KG, GMA News