Stop, look, listen, before you rant

THE Philippine government has chided the European Parliament to first stop, look and listen—and confer with their official delegation here before again criticizing and threatening the country of possible trade losses over its human rights records.

Presidential Human Rights Committee Secretariat chair, Undersecretary Severo ‘Nonoy’ Catura, said the government has always taken “very seriously the issue of human rights regularly being raised by other countries, especially by those in the European Union.

“The Philippine government has always taken these allegations very seriously because they are extremely demeaning to what we are – a democracy that recognizes the rights and freedoms of every peace-loving and law-abiding citizen of our land,” Catura stressed.

Catura specifically addressed his message to Heidi Hautala, a member of the European Parliament from the European Free Alliance and EU Parliament Vice President.

“Had Ms. Hautala validated her allegations first with the EU delegation to the Philippines, she would have learned that a joint technical cooperation project between the Philippine government and the United Nations is being implemented precisely to address these allegations, respectful of the various legal and accountable mechanisms that are already set in place.

“The program is called the UN Joint Program for Human Rights (UNJP-HR) and it was launched in July of last year, in the presence of no less than a representative of the EU delegation to the Philippines,” Catura pointed out.

In a news article last February 20, 2022 by the Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI) the European Parliament (EP), during its session on February 17, 2022, reportedly issued a resolution warning of the withdrawal of the country’s trade privileges over its human rights record.

Currently, the country enjoys tariff-free exports of some of its products covering some 6,200 tariff lines into the 27-member states of the EU.

“So, we strongly advise Ms. Hautala to check and re-check her information within her organization – specifically with the EU delegation to the Philippines – before she blindly demands anything from the Philippine government.” — Undersecretary Severo Catura

But according to Catura, the “concerns” of the EU are already being addressed by the UNJP to include “alleged cases of extrajudicial killings involving militants and trade union leaders, deaths arising from the anti-illegal drug campaign, alleged red-tagging in the implementation of the anti-terrorism law, and the involvement of civil society and human rights defenders in a safe enabling civic space.”

“In all this, focus is given on all applicable accountability mechanisms,” Catura explained.

“So, we strongly advise Ms. Hautala to check and re-check her information within her organization – specifically with the EU delegation to the Philippines – before she blindly demands anything from the Philippine government” the official said.

“We also take offence in the manner that she ‘demands’ because of the strong implication that what she alleges are true and, worse, are condoned as a matter of State policy.

“Moreover, her language disregards and disrespects the on-going efforts of the UN with the Philippines, and the mechanisms and processes that inform these efforts, to advance human rights in the country,” Catura added further.

the European Parliament, branding the resolution passed last February 17 as “unfair” and “baseless” and an interference in the country’s coming national elections this May.

“We condemn the misguided attempt of the European Parliament to interfere in the Philippine electoral process through its resolution raising already discredited allegations of human rights violations in the thin hope of heavily influencing the outcome in favor of its choice,” the DFA said, in a statement.

The DFA, also called the EU’s attention to the source of their misguided appreciation of human rights situation in the country, pointing out the accusations came from “libelous journalists and bitter critics of the current administration.”

The EU legislators want the country’s trade privileges under the ‘GSP’ (general system of preference) to be “temporarily withdrawn” pending compliance with their demands, including allowing foreigners to observe the conduct of the May elections.

Despite the brouhaha, the DFA said it looks forward to the European Union’s GSP monitoring mission from Feb. 28, 2022 to March 4, 2022, saying it understands that the views of the parliament members “do not reflect those of the European Union as a whole or of its individual member states.”