Miriam cites gains in human rights issues
Include human rights concerns on your list of priorities, presidential candidate Miriam Defensor Santiago yesterday dared her fellow candidates in the May 9 elections, lamenting that three of the five candidates failed to respond to the questionnaire on the subject. The questionnaire was sent by international observer Human Rights Watch (HRW). Only Santiago and Liberal Party bet Manuel A. Roxas II shared their human rights views, HRW revealed. Vice President Jejomar C. Binay, Sen. Grace Poe, and Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte did not answer the questionnaire. Santiago stressed that “human rights should be at the forefront of the agenda of any person running for public office.’’ “A rights-based approach in public policy has historically proven to be most effective,” she added. The list of questions HRW sent out March 22 quizzed candidates on the issues of impunity, violence against indigenous groups, the Reproductive Health (RH) Law, journalist killings, summary [...]