The Commission on Human Rights said Sunday the threat to the life of Caloocan City Bishop Virgilio Pablo David is a “threat to all freedom-loving Filipinos.”
The group’s spokesman Jacqueline Ann de Guia said the commission denounces any form of intimidation, harassment or threat to life as an assault to human dignity and freedom.
“We cherish our civil rights and freedoms. Those who disagree with the policies and views of elected government leaders should not be cursed or threatened,” she said.
“We remind our public servants and our men in uniform to defend and protect our hard-earned human rights to life, liberty and dignity for all.”
After receiving multiple death threats, David decided to skip the Ka Pepe Diokno Human Rights Awarding ceremony in his and Rappler’s Maria Ressa’s honor on Feb. 26 for the sake of his companions.
David, vice president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, strongly opposes warrant-less arrests and extra-judicial killings under the Duterte administration’s war on drugs.
The CHR recognizes that the release of the list of narco-politicians is to ensure that only deserving, law-abiding candidates get elected in government, but “we equally remind the administration that presumption of innocence is a constitutionally guaranteed right,” De Guia said.
“And if there is enough evidence for the government to put names in a supposed narco list, then the just way to proceed is to file appropriate charges against these personalities to make them accountable before our laws.
“The last thing that we want to happen is to heighten violence because of the release of such list in an oftentimes already violent period triggered by the election season.”