While the government and various organizations are implementing extreme measures to flatten the curve, human rights and moral values are at risk.
Some medical frontliners have no choice but to tend to COVID-19 patients while wearing incomplete or reused sets of personal protective equipment (PPE). Non-COVID-19 patients are denied treatment. Violators of ECQ protocols are apprehended without warning despite no specific law identifying these violations as a criminal act. Some companies are even laying employees off without undergoing proper process.
On Tuesday, Apr. 21, Winston Ragos, an ex-soldier, was shot dead by a police officer after allegedly drawing a gun from his bag. Bystanders claimed, however, that Ragos was not carrying a firearm. According to the family, Ragos was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after battling in Marawi.
[READ: Military power shows its fatality as policeman guns down man in Quezon City]
All of these happened (while some are still happening) in just a span of five weeks. Not to mention, the stay-at-home order can also be a probable factor in an anticipated rise in domestic violence cases in the country.
“Emergency powers may be needed but broad executive powers, swiftly granted with minimal oversight, carry risks. Heavy-handed security responses undermine the health response and can exacerbate existing threats to peace and security or create new ones,” said United Nations (UN) secretary-general Antonio Gutteres in a video message on Thursday, Apr. 23.
Although the UN chief did not specify which countries are responsible for violating human rights, he encouraged all government units to be “transparent, responsive and accountable.” Gutteres also urged civic space and press freedom. “In all we do, let’s never forget: the threat is the virus, not people,” the secretary-general added.
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Writer: KLEO CATIENZA
ART JOEY SIMBULAN
