BONO TO DU30: DON’T COMPROMISE RIGHTS
U2 frontman, philanthropist and rights advocate Bono, on Tuesday said he had “no plans” of meeting President Duterte during his first visit to the Philippines but had a “soft message” to the Filipino leader: Human rights should not be compromised in the name of progress.
Human rights are “critical” to any nation, said Bono, a member of the London-based Amnesty International.
He said he understood that while there could be instances when people would make compromises for the sake of progress, certain principles should be upheld at all times.
“I would just say that we can’t compromise on human rights. That’s my soft message to the President,” he told reporters at the signing of a partnership agreement between the Philippine Red Cross and Zipline, a medical product delivery company of which he is a board member.
Bono and U2 are in the country for the band’s Joshua Tree concert tour, which will be held on Wednesday night at Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan province.
The singer said he had a “deep conviction about journalism” as a hallmark of democracy and that guaranteeing the safety of journalists was a paramount concern.
“I probably would have been a journalist if I wasn’t a singer. Democracy requires a free press. I find some journalists a total pain in the ass, but I’m really glad that they are there,” he said.
‘Murdering enterprise’
Following threats against some journalists whom authorities accused of having ties with communist rebels in September, Amnesty urged the Philippine government “to respect and protect the rights of journalists, including their right to freedom of expression, as well as to life and security of person.”
In July, it asked the United Nations to investigate the “gross human rights violations and possible crimes against humanity committed as part of the ‘war on drugs.’”
“Three years on, President Duterte’s ‘war on drugs’ continues to be nothing but a large-scale murdering enterprise for which the poor continue to pay the highest price,” said Nicholas Bequelin, Amnesty director for East and Southeast Asia.
“It is time for the United Nations, starting with its Human Rights Council, to act decisively to hold President Duterte and his government accountable,” he added.
Malacañang has dismissed Amnesty’s allegations and maintained that the administration respects human rights, saying the human rights watchdog was only biased against the government.
U2 arrived on Monday, a day before International Human Rights Day rallies were held in Manila and other cities denouncing the alleged extrajudicial killings in Mr. Duterte’s antidrug campaign and crackdown on activists.
‘Fake war on drugs’
One of those who joined the rally at Liwasang Bonifacio in Manila was Llore Benedicto, a 65-year-old mother whose two sons, Crisanto and Juan Carlos, mysteriously disappeared and were later reported to have been shot to death by policemen during an alleged robbery in May 2017.
Her sons presented themselves to authorities as drug users, but their opportunity to lead new lives were crushed by their unjust killings, Benedicto said.
“We want [the President] to end the killings, this fake war on drugs that is actually a war on the poor. I and all the other mothers here who have lost their children in the drug war have a difficult time attaining justice,” she told the Inquirer.
The protesters also denounced the alleged military bombing of “lumad” (indigenous) schools in Mindanao, which the authorities said were being used by rebels to spread communist and antigovernment propaganda.
According to a representative of SOS Network, who identified herself only as Beverly, 156 lumad schools have been ordered closed by the Department of Education.
“Despite this, we are not giving up the fight. We are never going to put the future of the lumad children in the hands of a fascist administration,” she said.
Martial law in South
Former senatorial candidate Samira Gutoc-tomawis urged Filipinos to stand up for human rights not just on International Human Rights Day.
She said no one has taken responsibility for the casualties in Mindanao during martial law. (See related story in Regions, Page A18.)
“We can no longer see the clear skies because of the bombing ... the worst is happening in our country and it is still happening now. The names of the casualties in Mindanao are replaced just by numbers,” Gutoc said.