Refuting the report of a United Nations (UN) committee about continuing extrajudicial killings in the Philippines, Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri said he has not heard nor seen any killings, particularly of suspected drug pushers, under the new administration.
Reports from the police and media, however, show otherwise as killings related to the drug war persist.
During a Nov. 7 press briefing, Zubiri, an ally of President Ferdinand Marcos, said it was “unfair” that the UN Human Rights Committee, a panel of independent human rights experts, noted in its Nov. 3 report the alleged persistence of extrajudicial killings and other human rights violations in the country. He dismissed the alleged human rights violations, including the drug-related killings, as “an old issue.”
He said:
“When we went to [the] EU [European Union], they discussed a bit of human rights but we told them, it is the new administration, there’s a new policy. The president said maximum tolerance when it comes to human rights …”
Source: Senate of the Philippines, Senate President Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri’s Press Conference (transcript), Nov. 7, 2022, watch 00:16 to 00:26
The Senate president continued:
“So as you can see, wala naman akong nakikitang namamatay … Unless may namatay na drug pusher, eh wala naman ako naririnig. Kaya nga nagalit na nga ‘yung previous administration, ba’t humihina na (ang kampanya laban sa droga).”
(So as you can see, I don’t see anyone getting killed … Unless a...
Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is in "good health" and suffered only minor injuries during the February 28 strikes, senior Iranian officials said on Friday, dismissing mounting speculation...