The Duterte Administration’s rejection of loans and grants from the countries which co-sponsored and/or voted in favor of the Iceland-led resolution to probe the human rights situation in the Philippines is inordinately ill-advised.

The resolution dated 11 July 2019, which was passed by a majority of the members of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) which cast categorical votes with 18 for and 14 against, requested the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights “to prepare a comprehensive written report on the situation of human rights in the Philippines.”

The Philippines is a member of the UNHRC and it aggressively launched an unsuccessful lobby against the resolution. 

This false pride of the Duterte administration foisted to block the UNHRC probe may ostracize the Philippines from concessional foreign finance and would conveniently justify the country’s availment of Chinese loans with much higher interest rates and shorter grace periods.

The order to put on hold the signing and negotiation of loans and grants from human rights-protective States will jeopardize almost half a billion dollars’ worth of financing from countries like Australia, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Austria and some countries from the European Union including Spain’s first official development assistance (ODA) which is already in the pipeline.

The foregone loans are earmarked for the development of infrastructure, trade and transport.

EDCEL C. LAGMAN