LOPEZ, JOHN LENNON S.

READ-WRI
S11-18

Nowadays, human rights became the center of rumor regarding the Presidency of President

Rodrigo Duterte on alleged extrajudicial killings. Duterte administration proved that change is coming. It

is evident in the projects and campaigns they have done to fight against illegal drugs. Unfortunately,

extra-judicial killings became an issue in the said administration which results in negative feedback to the

president.

Based from the article “the EU and human rights” the author’s claim is “it is in this context that

Philippines policymakers should view the united nations and European union’s anxiety over and interest

in the murderous war on drugs raging in our midst. When the UN and EU express their concerns, as they

are obliged to do, they are not meddling in the Philippines ‘internal affairs. They are acting on principles

and executing policies that bear the imprimatur and consent of the Philippine government and the

international community “(lines 5, to ,9) which means we can’t deny that the international organization

plays an important role in the progress of our economy. But lately, the president argued when European

union express their concerns about human rights. There are reasons in the article that the author has stated

to support his claim. First “the Philippines, after all, is a signatory not only to the UN charter but also to

the UN human rights council and its predecessor. We have a partnership and cooperation agreement with

the EU, signed in 2012, that provides for engagement and cooperation on a broad range of areas,

including human rights and justice (lines 10 to 13). Second (“under these legal frameworks, it is difficult

to see how Philippine sovereignty is being violated. In any case, sovereignty cannot be a lid to cover the

excesses of state power or the atrocities committed by public officials. ( lines 14-16)

It is stated that “we have a partnership and cooperation agreement with the EU signed in 2012,

that provides for engagement and cooperation on a broad ranges of areas, including human rights and

justice “(lines 11,12,13) which would be the most striking evidence presented by the author to support his

claim. Therefore, the international organization must have the right to express their concerns regarding
human rights and justice without violating the Philippine sovereignty. They are just doing what is said in

the law and made it for the sake of organization and humanity.

On the other hand, among all the evidence provided by the author “For these reasons, the recent

political rant against the EU diminishes us, to say the least. The EU, for many years, has been the

Philippines’ second largest source of remittances from Filipinos abroad and the largest provider of foreign

direct investments. In the first half of this year alone, almost a third of all newly approved investments in

the country were sourced from Europe. Philippine goods to the continent made the EU the second largest

market for Filipino exporters. And since 2014, the EU has extended enhanced trade preferences to our

country under its Generalized Scheme of Preferences plus (GSP+)”. (lines 17 to 20) this does not provide

a good support on the claim, although the author wants to add a sort of information it only stated the big

impact of international organization when it comes to the progress of our economy which is quite far to

support the claim. Aside from that we are talking about the human rights and its follow up issues and not

what do the EU made for us.

In this part, my stand regarding the authors claim is for because the bloody war on drugs in the

country has already made headlines all over the world. It is alarming that our country became the center

of news and displays bad impression. Also, the moral and human dignity is highly affected by these extra

judicial killings that is why the EU and UN raised their concerns and investigate to seek the truth behind

this war. Aside from the fact that the international community only wants to stop this happening. It is true

that this bloody war will continue to affect the people and wreak havoc if not ended.