By Gigie Arcilla/PNA
BRUSSELS, Belgium – The head of the Philippine delegation to the United Nations (UN) Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) on Thursday expressed the government’s sincerity in resolving the 625 cases of “desaparecidos (disappearances)”.
Undersecretary Severo Catura, Executive Director of Presidential Human Rights Committee Secretariat (PHRCS), said should there be one of significant legacies of President Rodrigo R. Duterte administration aside from providing a better life for Filipinos, it is that it has moved forward in effectively addressing the 625 cases filed before the Human Rights Council of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, which are mostly attributed to government forces between 1975 and 2012.
“We have moved towards a very positive path, masosolusyunan natin ito, meron tayong mga mechanisms (We will be able to solve these and we have mechanisms in place),” he said in an interview after the 117th Session of the five-member WGEID in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina on Feb. 14.
“We have the law, the legal framework to support it, and more importantly, we have the heart to really make things happen and make a difference,” he added.
Catura led a seven-member Philippine delegation to Sarajevo to clarify by presenting the truth on what have been done in addressing the issues on the cases of enforced or involuntary disappearances.
He lamented that the 625 cases, which are actually cases during the past administrations, have long been with the UN.
“We do not have any case of enforced and involuntary disappearances under the Duterte administration. So its out of good faith and out of the sincerity of the President to really give justice to the victims as well as to the victims’ families,” he said.
“Our message here is the openness of the government despite allegations of human rights violations. You will see the direction of the government that is human rights compliant,” he said adding that human rights are about protecting the people at whatever cost.
At the Sarajevo meeting, the Philippine delegation sought the help of WGEID, chaired by Bernard Duhaime, to contact the sources of the cases to provide the necessary information for substantial evidence that will put closure on them, all in accordance with the WGEID’s Methods of Work.