ANGELES, Pampanga — Nationwide consultations have begun for the crafting of the 4th Philippine Human Rights Plan (PHRP4), reaffirming the State’s commitment to uphold and advance human rights as a priority in good government under the administration’s call for a Bagong Pilipinas.
Conducted through regional consultations, the first leg of the PHRP4 nationwide consultations is in Angeles City, Pampanga, for Northern and Central Luzon regions on May 26-27, at the Xenia Hotel at the Clark Freeport Zone.
The crafting of PHRP4, coordinated by the Presidential Human Rights Committee Secretariat (PHRCS) in close partnership with the Department of Foreign Affairs-UN and other International Organizations office, is led by a core team of designated lead agencies and offices in the Executive department mandated to lead the State’s implementation of its human rights obligations. These are obligations contained in the core international human rights treaties to which the Philippines is a State party.
The PHRP4 core team includes the Department of Justice, National Economic and Development Authority, Department of the Interior and Local Government, Department of Migrant Workers, Philippine Commission on Women, Council for the Welfare of Children, National Council for Disability Affairs, and National Commission on Indigenous Peoples.
Representatives of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the UN Office of the Resident Coordinator in the Philippines join the team in the consultations, a key activity supported under the UN Joint Program for Human Rights.
The PHRP4 consultations will involve non-government organizations and civil society representing sectors and communities in the regions covered. More than 50 of these organizations and groups will be taking part in the regional event.
Undersecretary Severo Catura, executive director of the PHRCS, explained that “these multi-stakeholder consultations shall be the cornerstone in the development of the State’s action plan for human rights promotion and fulfillment.”
“We take pride in our inclusive process in human rights planning, especially so that the PHRP4 is a global pledge of the Philippines before the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, conveyed last year on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights,” he continued.
“The Philippines has a vast and enabled civic space where NGOs and civil society groups are strongly encouraged to come together and share their diverse perspectives and insights; this will ensure that the national plan shall be inclusive, representative, and effective,” he added.
“A human rights plan that reflects the voices and needs of all Filipinos, especially those most in need of government attention, will inform participative governance at its finest, the hallmark of Bagong Pilipinas,” Catura said.
The PHRP4 will address crucial continuing and emerging human rights issues and concerns encompassing civil and political rights; economic, social, and cultural rights; and the rights of vulnerable sectors, such as women, children, persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples, migrant workers, and persons deprived of liberty, among others.
The PHRP4 will reinforce strategies in government’s pursuit of relevant programs and projects that will uplift standards of living, quality of life, and human dignity. And it will further human rights education, improve on policies and frameworks, and strengthen institutions responsible for human rights protection.
Succeeding joint consultations are scheduled in the following areas and dates: Manila for National Capital Region, 20-21June; Laguna for Southern Luzon, 1-2 July; Iloilo City for Western and Eastern Visayas, 15-16 July; Cebu City for Central Visayas, 29-30 July; Davao City for Northern and Southern Mindanao, 05-06 August; General Santos City for Central Mindanao, 19-20 August; Cotabato City for BARMM, 2-3 September. (PHRC)
