MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines won its bid for a seat in the United Nations Human Rights Council on Friday, October 12, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) announced.

“We won!” said the DFA in a message to reporters around 12:25 am on Saturday, October 13.

The Philippine delegation to the United Nations was led by Permanent Representative Teodoro Locsin Jr, incoming foreign secretary of the Philippines.

The DFA sent a photo of Locsin with UN General Assembly president Maria Fernanda Espinosa, among others, “after the Philippines won its bid for a seat in the UN Human Rights Council during elections in New York on Friday.” 

The New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) earlier campaigned for other countries to oppose the Philippines’ candidacy for the UNHRC. The group cited the killings in President Rodrigo Duterte’s anti-drug campaign.

“UN member countries should show their outrage at the Philippines and Eritrea by leaving two spots on the ballot sheet blank and keeping them off the council,” UN director at HRW Louis Charbonneau said.

The former UN human rights chief had consistently voiced concern about the killings in the Philippines’ war on drugs. – Rappler.com