City HR commission pushed

CEBU, Philippines —  Cebu City Councilor Alvin Dizon has drafted a proposed ordinance creating the Human Rights Action Commission.

For Dizon, human rights are the supreme, inherent and inalienable rights to life, dignity, and self-development which cover civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights that make each individual a human being.

He cited Section 50 of the Local Government Code of 1991 which provides that the local government units at the level of provinces, cities, municipalities and barangays are mandated to create a Human Rights Committee (HRC) as one of the standing committees of their respective sanggunian and thereto develop local policies that will address issues on human rights, rule of law, and access to justice.

According to him, there is a need to ensure the accountability of local authorities in the promotion, protection and full realization of all human rights, and in instilling greater public awareness regarding this matter.

"Functions of enhancing the primacy of human rights and providing appropriate legal measures and legal aid to the underprivileged whose human rights have been violated is upheld through the request for assistance or proper coordination between and among local government offices, departments, bureaus or agencies," stated Dizon.

To combat human rights violations happening everyday, Dizon said it is right time to create a Human Rights Action Commission in the city and it will create a continuing program of research, information, education, legal, and other support services or assistance in the city down to the barangay level to give respect for the primacy of human rights.

The proposed ordinance will cover all barangays.

The creation of Cebu City Human Rights Action Commission (CHRAC) shall be under the Office of the City Mayor in coordination with the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), civil society organizations representatives, and league of local government functionaries.

The body shall be headed by the City Administrator, and the City Legal Officer as its co-chairperson.

The proposed commission shall be composed of the chairperson of the City Council’s committee on justice and human rights as co-chairperson and the members are the representatives from the City Social Welfare and Development Office, City Planning and Development Office, City Health Office, City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CCENRO), City Public Information Office, Sanggunian Panlungsod Secretary, Cebu City Police Office; Barangay Human Rights Action Officer (BHRAO), Civil Society Organizations/Peoples Organizations and Liga ng mga Barangay.

The volume of representatives from CSOs in the City Human Rights Action Team shall be balanced with or equal in number as that of representatives from the government sector.

The duties and responsibilities of the commission are: develop and implement the human rights plan of the city government, propose to the Sanggunian the integration of human rights programs, projects and activities in the annual budget appropriation, recommend appropriate rights-based legislations to the Sanggunian, propose plans and activities related to human rights for budget allocation, utilize available resources for human rights promotion activities, posting and/or publish feature articles of human rights programs, projects, and activities in the websites, bulletin boards, and newsletters of the city government.

Another aim of the commission is to provide legal or paralegal assistance to victims of human rights violations.

The body will reproduce and disseminate human rights information, education, and communication (IEC) materials within Cebu City government.

It will serve as information center on human rights programs and services, including referral systems within the city government; maintain and update the directory of human rights programs and services; and organize the association of Human Rights Action Officers (HRAOs) at the city and barangay level, and support their operations.

The city government and the corresponding barangays shall allocate from their annual budget a sufficient amount in the furtherance of the functions and responsibilities of the CHRAC.

Based on the proposal, an amount of two million (P2,000,000) pesos to be taken from the general fund of the city shall be appropriated annually for the implementation of CHRAC programs. — GMR (FREEMAN)