Rights info drive kicks off in Tondo

Acknowledging deficiencies in the effort to stop abuses, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) on Monday started taking a more direct way of educating people about their rights and providing help in going after wrongdoers.

And where better to launch its “Human Rights on Wheels” program than in Tondo, Manila—an area which gained a measure of notoriety nearly two years ago when officers of a police precinct there were implicated in the torture of a robbery suspect. The incident which was caught on video sparked public outrage over the alleged abuses committed by law enforcers.

Under the program which was timed to coincide with the agency’s 25 anniversary, CHR personnel would go around different areas in Metro Manila to provide human rights education and training, counseling sessions and free legal aid to residents, according to Loretta Rosales, the agency’s chair.

In addition, it would also offer workshops on a human rights-based approach to development and governance as well as activities to promote health and wellness, Rosales said.

The CHR program to conduct an information drive in the grassroots level comes in the midst of criticisms leveled against the Aquino government for its supposedly dismal record in battling human rights abuses.

In addition, international rights groups have lamented that state forces implicated in abuses have generally not been held accountable.

This was supported by figures cited by Rosales in her speech at the program launching when she said that based on CHR data, only 27 percent or 132 out of the 356 complaints filed against the military, police and other armed groups from July 2010 to March 2012 have been resolved.

“As an institution, we therefore need to be more proactive in investigating, monitoring and resolving cases of human rights violations through regional case conferences and community-based dialogues,” she added.

She called on other government agencies to join the CHR’s latest endeavor, saying that by working together, they could build a “critical mass of human rights defenders, one community at a time.”

Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim was unable to join the program launching although he sent a message which was read by a staffer.

In his message, Lim said that despite having been given the nickname “Dirty Harry,” he has always respected the rights of suspects although he values the human rights of victims more.

He said he would do all he could to protect citizens from criminals. Once the suspects have surrendered, he said he would give them all the rights due them under the law. In addition, he vowed to continue to go after hoodlums in uniform.

Meanwhile, United Nations Development Programme- Philippines Country Director Renaud Meyer, who was also present, lent his support to the program, saying it would give the people at the grassroots

level the confidence to claim their rights as their own.