THE nation joined the global community last Dec. 10 in commemorating International Human Rights Day. It’s timely and appropriate for the Philippine government to re-affirm its commitment to uphold and protect human rights that constitute a cornerstone of our democratic system of governance.
We have Article III of the 1987 Constitution that spells out the bill of rights.
At the outset, this section says that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of nor shall any person be denied the equal protection of the laws.
Then it talks about the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures of whatever nature and for any purpose shall be inviolable.
Further on, it provides that no law shall be passed abridging the freedom of speech, of expression, or of the press, or the right of the people to peaceably assemble and petition the government for redress of grievances.
Those are among the substantive rights that our fundamental law wants to be upheld at all times. But how does the State ensure that those rights are protected?
That’s where the constitutional body known as the Commission on Human Rights plays a key role.
The CHR is an independent office with the power to investigate, on its own or on complaint by any party, all forms of human rights violations involving civil and economic rights. It is also tasked to provide appropriate legal measures for the protection of human rights of all persons within the Philippines, as well as Filipinos living abroad, and provide preventive measures and legal aid services to the underprivileged whose human rights have been violated or need protection.
Apart from these, the CHR is also tasked with monitoring the government’s compliance with international treaty obligations on human rights.
But the CHR’s mandate is circumscribed by the lack of an enforcement mechanism that would allow it to prosecute human rights violators. It’s a toothless agency as all it can do for now is to recommend the filing of charges by the law enforcement agencies and the prosecution by the courts of law of human rights violators.
The protection of human rights in the country needs added impetus in light of human rights abuses particularly under the Duterte administration that waged a brutal war on illegal drugs and in the process committed thousands of extrajudicial killings.
If the previous administration trampled underfoot the Constitutional guarantees on human rights, it is time for the current dispensation to right the wrongs done during Rodrigo Duterte’s bloodthirsty rule and guarantee full respect for human rights in the years ahead.
