Mindanaotoday.com | CHR holds ‘LaKarAn,’ human rights caravan in CDO
By: Jasper Marie Rucat
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – To educate and bring its services closer to communities, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) conducted a Cagayan de Oro leg of its nationwide human rights education caravan dubbed Lakbay Karapatan Tungo sa Kamalayan “LaKarAn” (Human Rights Journey towards Consciousness) May 24–25, 2023.
Lawyer Richard P. Palpal-latoc, chairperson, clarified that as a flagship program of CHR, “LaKarAn” aims to reach the grassroots of society as well as build partnerships with local government units, the security sector, civil society organizations, and the community in the regions.
“Iba-iba ang mga kaso ng violation of human rights, nandyan ‘yung violation on right to life, violation on rights of women, children, marami pang iba kaya nga sobrang lawak nung i-aasess natin, anong estado natin sa human rights,” he said.
(There are varied cases of human rights violations; there is the violation of the right to life, the violation of the rights of women and children, and many more. That is why the coverage of our assessment is so broad; the state of our human rights)
Although the commission has limited resources, especially in terms of manpower and budget, he assured that its services are accessible to the public.
“Ang limitasyon ho lamang naming ang ‘yung aming manpower and budget. So ito isang paraan namin ipalapit lalo ‘yung serbisyo namin. Ipaalam din sa tao na nandito kami handang tumulong kung kailangan,” he said.
(Our limitation is only manpower and budget. So this is one way that we can bring our services closer, and we are here to remind everyone that we are ready to help)
Meanwhile, Maximo T. Rodriguez III, punong barangay of Nazareth, Cagayan de Oro City, shared that he welcomes any added training or seminars on human rights from the national government.
“Malaking tulong especially sa mga cases natin na hinahandle sa barangay on justice system. We have our different organizations and different groups such as VAWC and also BCPC and yung lupon natin active din. Pero it doesn’t hurt na may dagdag eh kasi we welcome para lang talaga ma-refresh tayo sa Karapatan Pantao,” he said.
(This is a huge help, especially on our cases that the barangay handles on the justice system. We have our different organizations and different groups, such as VAWC and also BCPC, and also our board that is active. But it doesn’t hurt to have additional because we welcome it so that we will be refreshed with human rights)
Part of the caravan is the kick-off celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), a Memorandum of Agreement between the CHR and Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT) to maintain a Center for Human Rights Education, a Barangay Human Rights Action Center Team (BHRAcT) Summit, and a dialogue with civil society organizations. (JMOR/PIA-10)
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