LUYAMAN, FREDIELYN S.
ANALYSIS ON HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE PHILIPPINES
“All humans are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and
conscience and should act towards one another in the spirit of brotherhood.
Human rights describe equal rights and freedom for everybody by the fact of being human and
without distinction of any kind of race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinions.
However, many people have always suffered from the lack of them throughout history. In fact, the
lack of human rights has a lot of effects on people’s lives.
One of the rights that is being neglected in the Philippines was the freedom of expression. The
right to freedom of expression is recognized as human right under the Article 19 of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights and recognized in international human rights law in the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Article 19 states that “ everyone shall have the right
hold opinions without interference” and “everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this
right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless
of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his
choice.” However, this freedom or right was violated over and over by the people who holds power.
By the people who has money and fame. One example of this was when the president increasingly
threatened journalists critical of the government. Editor-in-Chief Maria Ressa and her news website
Rappler, which reported extensively on killings and other human rights violation in the “war on drugs”,
and a former Rappler reporter and board members, faced at least 10 politically-motivated lawsuits
Another right that is violated was the labor rights. Workers from various industries – such as
transportation, food, beverage, and manufacturing – went on strike several times against unfair labour
practices, including low wages, short/fixed-term employment, and failure by employers to provide
government-mandated benefits. Some of the protests resulted in violent dispersals, arrests by poice,
and even killings at the hands of unidentified individuals.
During his annual State of the Nation Address in July, President Duterte called again on
congress to reinstate the death penalty, including for drug-related crimes. More than 20 death penalty
bills were pending in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. Reintroducing the death
penalty would violate the Philippines’ obligations under the Second Optional Protocol to the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which commits the country never to reinstate the
penalty.
Amidst of the crisis that is happening in our country people are continuously violating human
rights. Despite the increasing difficulties and hardships which millions of us Filipinos face and need to
surmount in order to survive, we to be persistent and courageous to assert and defend our rights.
Where human rights violation persist and a culture of impunity remains, the Filipino people will
continue fighting towards the attainment of a society where all individuals enjoy a life of dignity and
worth.
