|
SOME 250
representatives from government and civil-society groups
gathered on Monday for a workshop and consultation that
will lead to the formulation of the 2nd National Human
Rights Action Plan and Program.
Convened
by the Commission on Human Rights and the Philippine
Human Rights Committee, with the support of the United
Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the Asia
Foundation, the workshop called for the advancement of a
multisectoral human-rights agenda consisting of
legislative, administrative and program measures.
The
action plan covers 15 sectors of society: women,
children, youth, elderly, indigenous cultural
communities, Muslims, persons with disabilities,
mentally disabled persons, detainees, private-labor
sector, internally displaced persons, migrant workers,
urban poor, informal labor and rural workers.
Undersecretary Cecilia Quisumbing, executive director of
the Presidential Human Rights Committee, said the plan
served as an advocacy tool and provided legitimacy to
the concerns of vulnerable sectors.
“The
human-rights action plan shall be anchored on the
country’s obligations under the seven core international
human-rights instruments to which the Philippines is a
signatory,” Quisumbing said. “And considering that the
action plan shall be treaty-based, lead agencies have
been identified for each of the seven core instruments.”
The lead
agencies responsible for the core treaties are the
Department of Justice for the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights); the Department of the
Interior and Local Government for the Convention Against
Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment
or Punishment; National Commission on Indigenous Peoples
for the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Racial Discrimination; National Economic and Development
Authority for International Covenant on Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights; Department of Labor and Employment
for International Convention on the Protection of the
Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their
Families; National Commission on the Role of Filipino
Women for Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination Against Women; and the Department of
Social Welfare and Development for the Convention on the
Rights of the Child.
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, chairman of the
Presidential Human Rights Committee, said in a taped
message that the country has many experts and advocates
in the civil society proficient in the human-rights law.
“We are
aware of our human-rights obligations, we have the
expertise and the dedication right here in the country
and as represented in this assembly,” Ermita said.
“Dialogue with our international partners is important,
but not as critical as a continuing dialogue among
ourselves—as we formulate and implement a national
human-rights action plan and program for the Filipino
people by Filipinos.”
It has
been nine years since the first human-rights action
plan. Quisumbing said that in 1995, then-President Fidel
Ramos issued Memorandum Order 258 creating an
interagency task force on Strategic Planning and
Research for Human Rights Protection. “In 1995 it was
just a consultation phase,” Quisumbing said. “The first
action plan was completed in 1999.”
“And in
2005, the PHRC issued a resolution endorsing to the
President the issuance of a memorandum order on the
creation of Task Force for the Formulation of the
National Action Plan on Human Rights,” she added.
|
