The Commission on Human Rights on Friday denounced the death threats on a University of the Philippines official criticizing the country’s health situation.
It raised concern over the supposed harassment on Dr. Gene Nisperos, his wife Dr. Julie Caguiat and their children, after he expressed, at a news conference, that there was a ‘“health crisis” in the country.
“Vocal critics of government policies and action should not be responded (to) with any form of retaliation as everyone has the political right to express their (sic) opinion in a democracy,” the commission’s official statement read.
“People have the right to demand redress if there are legitimate human rights concerns that the government should look into,” it stated.
This developed as an epidemiologist said awareness of the risks, the right care and treatment of HIV/AIDS could help save lives especially now that they were seeing a change in the strain of the virus.
“We can keep people alive even if they have HIV as long as they stay on meds for a very long time. If you’re on treatment and your viral load is suppressed, you cannot give anyone HIV,” said Dr. Edsel Maurice Salvaña of the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology at the National Institute of Health at the University of the Philippines.
Salvaña said the new strain, subtype AE, might progress to AIDS faster based on initial studies.
“We used to have something called Subtype B which is found more in the United States and now we have a hybrid type virus which is more common in Thailand and we think that may have contributed to the rising cases and also the transmissibility of the virus,” he said.
The CHR said any form of intimidation, harassment and threat to life is an assault on people’s freedom and dignity, it said.
Apart from the threats received by Nisperos and his family, there is a growing number of attacks and human rights violations committed against individuals and groups speaking out against injustices and government inaction, it added.
“The Commission continuously reminds the administration to provide protection and grievance mechanisms for human rights defenders who struggle to surface the plight of various marginalized and vulnerable population,” the agency said.
Nisperos is a UP College of Medicine faculty and president of the All UP Academic Employees Union-Manila Chapter, while Caguiat is the executive director of the health organization Community Medicine Development Foundation.
As a doctor-teacher-unionist, Nisperos took a swipe at the government’s huge budget slash on key health institutions, such as the Department of Health and Philippine General Hospital, and underscored the worsening situation of our public health system.
“Our public hospitals are still confronted with issues of inadequate staff and health facilities that could not sufficiently accommodate the medical needs of our people,” CHR said.
“The health-care situation in the country is already a concern that the nation should lament about but the continuous attack against human rights advocates is an equally grave concern that we should never disregard and continue to demand justice for,” it added.