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Sunday, January 5, 2025

EU chief: Human rights situationin PH ‘much better’ under PBBM

The human rights environment has become “much better” under the Marcos administration, according to visiting European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Von der Leyen on Tuesday said the government under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has become more cooperative with the United Nations and other groups regarding human rights.

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“The government now is much more cooperative with the United Nations and other international organizations. This is very important.

Therefore, we see progress,” she said in an interview with CNN Philippines.

“As I said, there’s much improvement – [there are] still topics that we have to discuss, issues that are raised in the constant dialogue that we have with the Philippines. But the environment is much better and this is important for us that there’s improvement in the steps forward,” she added.

Mr. Marcos, in his bilateral meeting with Von der Leyen, described the Philippines and the European Union as “like-minded partners.”

“The Philippines and EU are like-minded partners through our shared values of democracy, sustainable and inclusive prosperity, the rule of law, peace and stability, and human rights,” Mr. Marcos said on Monday.

“The continued exchanges between Her Excellency and myself, which started in Brussels last year, is a testament to our joint desire to bring our bilateral relationship to greater heights,” the President added.

Von der Leyen is the first European Commission president to visit the Philippines.

In February, visiting European Parliament members had a “constructive and fruitful” discussion with Philippine senators on various human rights issues, especially the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) investigation into former President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs.

Senator Francis Tolentino and Hannah Neumann, the head of the European Union delegation, shared this in a press conference after their dialogue.

“As you are all aware, the EU has been quite worried about the war on drugs and the extrajudicial killings happening in the past. We were discussing this, and we are also very relieved to hear that right now the Philippines is working more towards rehabilitation and prevention,” Neumann said.

“We have also discussed other human rights issues and I think it has been a fruitful and constructive meeting that makes me believe that we are moving towards a more constructive engagement for the future,” she added.

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