“As we move closer towards the National Elections in 2022, we appeal to all Presidential aspirants to include in their electoral agenda the protection of human dignity and the promotion of basic human rights of the Filipino people, especially the poor, the voiceless, and the marginalized,” San Carlos Bishop Gerardo Alminaza, said Thursday, December 9.
Alminaza, chairperson of the Church People-Workers Solidarity (CWS), issued the appeal on the eve of International Human Rights Day on Friday, December 10.
He said the CWS is also appealing to all voters to choose candidates who have a “profound respect for human life, a genuine desire to serve, and a passion for truth, freedom, and justice”.
Alminaza said under President Rodrigo Duterte the Philippines has increasingly become a dangerous place, particularly for human rights defenders.
International Federation for Human Rights reported that at least 25 human rights defenders (HRDs) were killed in 2020 in the country, and in the first six months of 2021 alone, 15 HRDs have been murdered. Added to these are the unsolved cases of hundreds of activists, union leaders, community organizers, including 61 lawyers killed since 2016, the bishop said.
The relentless attacks against civil, political, economic, and cultural rights of the Filipino people have intensified months before Duterte steps down from his office, Alminaza also said.
The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict is notorious for the series of attacks against political dissenters and innocent civilians, he also said.
“CWS believes that a militarist approach will not solve the five-decade insurgency problem. CWS reiterates its stand that a negotiated socio-economic-political reform program that addresses the roots of the armed conflict remains the only viable option,” Alminaza said.*