Rights commitment in doubt
THE GOVERNMENT’S lack of funding for special human rights laws for next year casts doubts on President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.’s commitment to upholding human rights despite efforts to promote human rights under his administration, according to Human Rights Watch.
“Not providing the needed funds to enact these laws that have to do with human rights is nothing short of egregious,” Carlos H. Conde, a senior researcher at the Asia division of Human Rights Watch, told BusinessWorld in a WhatsApp message.
“It shows that the government is not putting its money where its mouth is…. it raises doubts about the seriousness of its commitment,” he added.
The Commission on Human Rights last week revealed that special human rights laws, including measures addressing human trafficking, violence against women and their children and crimes against humanity, among other laws, did not receive a single centavo under the proposed P6.352-trillion 2025 national budget. — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio