20 May 2004 – Foreign Affairs Secretary Delia Domingo Albert today said that the respect for human rights is a  central  element  to  governance,  echoing  the  statement of  the  President  that  human rights are a pillar of Philippine democratic governance.   The Secretary  made  this  statement  in  response  to  the  US  State Department’s report “Supporting Human Rights and Democracy: The U. S. Record 2003 – 2004.”

“It is clear from this report that the promotion of human rights is a major pillar of Philippine democratic governance.  It enumerates the actions that the Philippine government has been taking to promote human rights, particularly in the context of cooperation with the US,” the Secretary said.

“The discussions on these efforts are extensive.  The short comment in the report saying that there are problems in some areas cannot change the fact that the Philippine Government has been actively promoting human rights,” Secretary Albert added.

The Secretary acknowledged that there are indeed reports of human rights abuses, but that “as the President has stated, these are investigated with fairness, transparency and dispatch.”
 
The Secretary pointed out that the State Department report is intended primarily as a report of the actions taken by the US government to promote human rights through technical and other assistance.

“You will notice that the bulk of the report is an enumeration of the cooperation between the Philippines and the US in the promotion of human rights in the Philippines,” the Secretary said.  END.