Despite the unabated extrajudicial killings, unfulfilled promises, outlandish tirades, and inclination for authoritarian rule, President Rodrigo Duterte, according to Pulse Asia, has outranked three former Presidents in approval and trust ratings.
The call of President Rodrigo Duterte to host in the Philippines a global summit on human rights is a mockery like the ogre presiding over a meeting of predators.
A gross violator of human rights in his deadly campaign against suspected drug users and peddlers has no credibility to convene a summit on human rights to include principally violator countries.
On Monday, as the country began to slow down for holidays traditionally devoted to the commemoration of the dead and to reflections on death, former human rights lawyer Harry Roque began a new lease on (political) life, as the new presidential spokesperson.
To the members of the political class who know him best, human rights advocates turned politicians, this was a moment of liberation for Roque.
“The charade is now over,” Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman said of the controversial Kabayan party-list congressman and deputy leader of the administration-approved opposition in the House of Representatives; Roque was now “liberated and obligated to be the President’s official apologist.”
It is a pathetic irony that while freedom fighters and human rights advocates are depreciated by the present leadership in their own country, they are greatly appreciated elsewhere in the world.
This is the case of Sen. Leila de Lima who recently won the international Prize for Freedom Award even as she languishes in prison for fabricated and politically motivated charges.
Harry Roque’s threat to throw “hollow blocks” and “adobe” at the critics of President Rodrigo Duterte is an irresponsible response to well-founded criticisms and a hollow bluff so unlike the moderation and composure of Pastor Ernesto Abella, his predecessor.
