DILG, CHR launch LGU-based human rights program

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of the Interior and Local Government and the Commission on Human Rights yesterday launched a program that aims to institutionalize human rights at the local government level.

According to DILG Undersecretary Austere Panadero, the LGU-level human rights program was developed by the department in support of Administrative Order No. 249, which renewed the government’s commitment to strengthen human rights policies, plans and programs in accordance with the principles stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

“An effective human rights program should always start from the grassroots. We should institutionalize the protection and promotion of human rights at the local level,” Panadero said during the program’s launch at the Sulo Hotel in Quezon City.

He added that the Local Government Human Rights Program also seeks to strengthen, among others, people’s access to justice as a vehicle in promoting human rights and creating a human rights policy. The program will be implemented in 119 cities nationwide.

The DILG said the program will also enable LGU personnel and the public to understand better the concept of human rights.

Under the memorandum of agreement signed by the two government bodies involved in the program, the CHR will provide its technical expertise, while the DILG, through the Vice Mayors League of the Philippines and the Philippine Councilors League, will mobilize its members to implement the project. –Mike Frialde (philstar.com)