Human rights in PHL will remain a major concern for the US —policy expert

HAWAII/WASHINGTON DC - The human rights situation in the Philippines would continue to be an important issue for the US, even during President Donald Trump's leadership, a foreign-policy expert at the Hawaii-based education and research organization East-West Center told members of the Philippine media who are on a reporting tour in Washington DC and Hawaii.

“I don't think there's any doubt that the new [Trump] administration will have to be committed to human rights," said East-West Center Adjunct Senior Fellow  Charles Salmon. "It may not be as well advertised as it had been, perhaps, in previous administrations. But it is part of the US’ national DNA."

Salmon added that though the Trump administration was in the process of transition, it would sooner or later raise the issue of alleged human rights violations, especially those committed as a result of President Rodrigo Duterte's aggressive war on drugs.

"I can guarantee you that the human rights thing, it will still be a very, very important part of our dialogue," said Salmon.

The US State Department had said earlier that though human rights issues were still a concern, the US government would continue to work constructively with the Philippines.

“We have a relationship in the Philippines where we can talk about some of these areas of concern at the same time that we pursue a very productive and forward looking bilateral relationship," Deputy State Department Spokesperson Mark Toner had said.

The Duterte administration has repeatedly denied that it was involved in human rights violations and extrajudicial killings.

Some 6,485 people have been killed in the Philippine government's war on illegal drugs.

USAID

The United States Agency for International Development or USAID said that while human rights issues were a concern, the agency needed "to understand why it’s happening, how it’s happening, and what we can do.”

USAID's Acting Assistant Administrator for Asia Gloria Steele added that the aid agency's relationship with the Philippines has remained strong.

Steele added that USAID's Growth with Equity program in Mindanao consisted of financial assistance for health, education, and social empowerment in communities.

She also revealed that the Philippine Department of Health had asked if USAID could help fund the creation of dug rehabilitation centers.

But Steele said that the creation of Philippine rehab centers was not in their priorities list at the moment, and they thus did not have the funding for it.

USAID has been known to provide financial assistance in the creation of drug rehab centers in some Latin American countries, such as Mexico and Peru.

According to a data from the Philippine Embassy in Washington DC, USAID had provided $600 million worth of development assistance from 2010 to 2016.

‘Tone it down’

Meanwhile, a Filipino-American Hawaii State Senator Will Espero believed that the rhetoric President Duterte used was a holdover from the presidential campaign.

Espero, while conceeding that he had no influence on Duterte, nevertheless urged the Philippine president to dial it back. "Yes, you can throw out your chest, show your constituents that you're this brave, courageous, fearless man. But at the end of the day, I think he will probably have to tone it down," Espero told GMA News.

However, the senator added that Duterte was not the only one who had an unusual way of communicating policy. US President Donald Trump was the same way, and he hoped that both leaders would eventually listen to their capable advisers.

"Hopefully they will listen to lawmakers and other opinion leaders” Espero said, and at the end of the day, “they will do what's right for the people of the Philippines and, in our case, for the United States." —DVM, GMA News