Manalo to convince other countries on Philippines' compliance with human rights treaties

Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo on Tuesday said he will convince other countries that the Philippines is complying with human rights treaties during the UN Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva next week.

Manalo made the statement when Senator Francis Tolentino asked him about his approach on the "attacks" coming from the European Union and some western states.

"How do you approach incessant, existing human rights issues being leveled not just against the past administration but continuing right now. How would you, the exact work would not be 'deflate' but how would you make it appear that we're really complying with the existing human rights conventions especially with attacks coming from the European Union and some European states?" Tolentino asked during a Commission on Appointments committee on foreign affairs hearing.

In response, Manalo said he will convince the UN Human Rights Council that the Philippines is complying with all human rights conventions and it is implementing a human rights program which is supervised by the UN and the United States government.

"In fact, next week, there will be a meeting in Geneva of the Human Rights Council and the Philippines would be also considered in the human rights situation and in fact, we are, I would not say countering, but we are trying to really convince our partners that the Philippines is undertaking and, in fact, complying with all human rights conventions and human rights agreements," he said.

"One of our showcases now is the human rights program in the Philippines... It is being run now with the supervision of the UN resident coordinator, the whole UN system and, in fact, it involves the US government plus the UN system and it is operating. And we're showing that this is the only one in the world and it shows that the Philippines is fully cooperative and is in fact being open and transparent in the way we deal with human rights issues," he added.

Manalo said he wanted to implement a "positive approach" on human rights issues which will not focus on confrontations but cooperation with other states.

"We want to create a positive approach that if countries feel there are gaps in human rights, countries should help other countries to undertake necessary programs to address them and that is how we try to approach the human rights issue, not in a confrontational way but in a cooperative way. That all countries are committed to it and all countries should help each other to ensure that we do promote and protect the human rights of all citizens," he said.—AOL, GMA News