MANILA,聽Philippines鈥揂 harsher drug war, as promised by President Rodrigo Duterte, trivializes the suffering of families of drug war victims and insults their memories, especially since the drug trade in the country doesn鈥檛 seem to be waning, the Commission on Human Rights said.
In a statement on Thursday night, CHR spokesperson Jacqueline de Guia said that while the commission has supported the administration鈥檚 effort to eradicate drugs in the country, it continued to disapprove of the methods used.
鈥淲ith the thousands that have already been killed because of this campaign, 鈥榟arsh鈥� is an understatement and a trivialization of the lives that were lost鈥攊t is irreversible and the suffering of families of victims can be lifelong,鈥� De Guia said.
De Guia was reacting to Mr. Duterte鈥檚 latest pronouncement that the drug war would be 鈥渉arsher鈥� in the coming days.
However, the CHR said that while the drug issue needed to be addressed, the government would do well to remember that it was still bound to the rule of law, and that it鈥檚 methods should not result in loss of lives.鈥�PATRICIA DENISE M. CHIU