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| Photo by Jamila Alyssa Estanislao |
At a time when there is an evident deterioration in the systems meant to uphold our human rights in the country, it is vital for our consciousness of those rights to be remembered, awakened, and strengthened.
In hopes of awakening the consciousness of the Filipino people on the importance of human rights, this week from December 4 to 10 is dedicated to National Human Rights Consciousness Week.
Introduced on April 01, 2003, as the Republic Act No. 9201, the National Human Rights Consciousness Week aims to promulgate a culture of human rights in the country that is vital in achieving sustainable development in the country, particularly in peace-building and unity.
From numerous extrajudicial killings, unlawful detentions, and red-tagging, to the blatant attacks on our freedom of expression, the human rights system in the country sustained a massive blow from the previous administration.
According to the data shown by PDEA, the death toll from former President Duterte’s controversial war on drugs has reached 6,248. This bloody solution to eliminating drugs and drug addiction in the country has been continuously criticized by human rights groups such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International Philippines. Justice for the victims of extrajudicial killings proves to be elusive, which speaks to the current state of the judicial system in the country.
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| Photo by Hannah Reyes Morales |
Aside from the war on drugs, the past administration has also claimed the lives of numerous human rights defenders, activists, and journalists. Along with them are peasant leaders, environmental defenders, and indigenous group heads. According to an article by Rappler, as of December 2021, 427 activists, human rights defenders, and grassroots organizers have been killed; as of December 2020, the lives of 166 land and environmental defenders have been taken; as of December 2021, 66 justices, lawyers, and prosecutors as well as 26 mayors and vice mayors were killed. In addition, 23 journalists and media workers were killed as of April 2022.
What’s alarming is that even after all the killings that have occurred under the administration, a large population of Filipinos still praise and support the administration, which is seen on different social media posts and comments. Moreover, under Duterte's leadership, the human rights consciousness of the Filipino nation failed to be awakened. More so, it was trampled upon. This is considering that a large population of Filipinos continuously glorify and pay no mind to the killings and human rights violations during Ferdinand Marcos Sr.’s regime. It has come to the point where we now have his son as the president of the country.
Duterte’s presidency came to an end and as we enter a new leadership, the National Human Rights Consciousness Week should serve as an avenue for us Filipinos to remember these horrible events that are now part of our country’s history in order to prevent the same events from happening again.
Let us not wait for more blood to run on the streets before we finally realize the atrocities that are happening around us. It is up to us to change the trajectory of the deteriorating human rights system of the country.
As citizens, we owe it to ourselves and to other Filipinos to be knowledgeable and aware of the rights we have so that no one can abuse them and take them away from us. This fight for human rights should not stop even as National Human Rights Consciousness Week comes to an end. We can always help through the use of our voices in bringing attention to various injustices, advocating and fighting for the right thing, and demanding accountability from those who are responsible. After all, real unity and peace can be attained through a just human rights system and conscious patriotic citizens.
