In a meeting yesterday, 23 January 2024, representatives of health civil society organizations joined other groups in a dialogue with Ms. Irene Khan, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression (FoOE), during her official country visit to the Philippines.
Dr. Edelina De la Paz, chairperson of the Health Alliance for Democracy (HEAD), and Mr. Robert Mendoza, national president of the Alliance of Health Workers (AHW) also represented the Coalition for People’s Right to Health (CPRH) and the Council for Health and Development (CHD) in the meeting.
In their recommendation to Ms. Khan, Dr. De la Paz and Mendoza expressed how the relationship of the right to freedom of opinion and expression and the right to health proportionately affects health outcomes.
“Without the guarantee of holding and expressing opinion in a democratic society, the role of community health workers and health workers in hospitals in easing the pain and suffering, protecting the sick and distressed, and being a source of credible information is placed at an immense risk,” said Dr. De la Paz.
The groups explained that during the COVID-19 pandemic, instead of empowering the health workforce and community-based responses while engaging the issues with a human rights framework, public health emergency became primarily a matter of law and order or discipline. The police and military in full battle gear were deployed in communities to instill fear and repress any form of discourse or dissent. “To date, there is no acknowledgment from the Duterte and Marcos Jr. administrations to the violations committed as a result of the militarist approach to the pandemic which repressed the people’s right to know and right to express,” added Dr. De la Paz.
For health workers who spoke against the dire situation of health workers, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, Mendoza shared how the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) through its then spokesperson Dr. Lorraine Badoy, vilified organizations and individuals — making them open targets for harassment or extra-judicial killing. “From the time of then-President Duterte to the current Marcos Jr. administration, anyone is a target.”
The health groups shared with Ms. Khan the pictures and stories of women health and human rights defenders Zara Alvarez and Dr. Mary Rose Sancelan from Negros, both summarily killed in 2020, Dr. Jean Lindo and Dr. Naty Castro, both community doctors who have been red-tagged.
Lastly, the groups called for the abolition of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, rescind the Anti-Terror Law, remove the terrorist designation to Dr. Maria Natividad Castro, and investigate and ensure accountability for human rights violations against doctors and other healthcare workers, prosecute perpetrators and execute the pertinent judicial processes.
The Alliance of Health Workers, Coalition for People’s Right to Health, Council for Health and Development, and Health Alliance for Democracy submitted a report to Ms. Khan to provide her with pertinent information on the correlation of repression of the freedom of opinion and expression and the right to health. ##
The mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression and opinion: https://www.ohchr.org/en/special-procedures/sr-freedom-of-opinion-and-expression/about-mandate
[A copy of the full report is available upon request. Thank you.]
Council for Health and Development (CHD) 