MANILA, Philippines – Detained Senator Leila de Lima wants the Philippine government to reconsider its position opposing the United Nations resolution seeking to stop the human rights abuses of Rohingya Muslims and other minorities in Myanmar.

In Senate Resolution 158 filed on Wednesday, October 2, De Lima urged the Department of Foreign Affairs to “observe international humanitarian laws.”

“The Senate urges the executive department, especially the Department of Foreign Affairs, to reconsider the Philippine government’s position on its international responses…in keeping with the historical and cultural traditions of the Filipino people who value the dignity and worth of every human person,” De Lima said in a statement sent to journalists. 

In late September, only the Philippines and China opposed the UN resolution urging the Myanmar government to sustain a transition under a democractically elected civilian government.

A total of 37 nations voted in favor of the resolution, with 7 countries abstaining from the vote.

The detained senator said that one “cannot simply turn a blind eye” to the magnitude of the human rights violations in Myanmar, which may include possible crimes against humanity.

De Lima pointed out that the Philippines is a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, pledging to “promote universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms.”

“Such a policy shall likewise be in keeping with the time-honored values of the Filipino people respecting the inalienable dignity and worth of every human person, of upholding the universality of human rights, and of standing up for justice and freedom,” De Lima said.

In March 2017, the Philippines had rejected a UN draft resolution seeking for the establishment of a fact-finding mission on the human rights atrocities in Myanmar, when Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr was still the Philippine permanent envoy to the UN.

Locsin’s position then was that resolution would “kill” the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Since August 2017, more than 740,000 members of Myanmar’s Muslim minority had fled to neighboring Bangladesh from the Rakhine State to escape brutal military persecution.

A 2019 report by the UN’s refugee agency found that one in every 69 refugees had tried to cross the sea in desperation to reach safety, risking their lives. – Rappler.com