Cayetano: PH committed to human rights

Manila -- Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano on Sunday (Manila time) underscored anew the country's commitment to the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights.

In his speech at the 73rd UN General Assembly in New York, Cayetano said the Duterte administration is one with the UN in being "uncompromising on the issues of rule of law, just and equitable peace that leads to order, development and prosperity, and the protection of each and every human being's rights."

As a sovereign state, he said the Philippines is on track in saving the nation from becoming "a narco-state or state held hostage by the rich and powerful who ignore the plight of the poor, powerless and marginalized, or worse, both.

He stressed that the administration's hunger for change, for peace, for law and order is "genuine."

The country's campaign against illegal drugs and the deaths associated with it had repeatedly caught the international community's attention.

In his recent speeches, President Rodrigo Duterte rebuked former UN High Commissioner on Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al-Hussein for criticizing the alleged extrajudicial killings in his drug war.

Cayetano explained that all reforms implemented in the Philippines are primarily aimed at protecting the rights of every single Filipino and every single human being living in the Philippines.

"We may somehow and sometimes differ in how we express ourselves, yet this should not be interpreted as turning our backs on the universal declaration on human rights," he added.

“We may somehow and sometimes differ in how we express ourselves, yet this should not be interpreted as turning our backs on the universal declaration on human rights.” Foreign Affairs Secretary

Alan Peter Cayetano