The Regional Development Council (RDC) 2 and the Regional Peace and Order Council (RPOC) 2 have recently expressed support to the mainstreaming of human rights through the Human Rights Action Center and Rule of Law (HRAC & ROL) Strategy.

During their joint business meeting held on June 23, 2015 at the JAPI Travellers Hotel in Cauayan City, the RDC 2 and the RPOC 2 deliberated and eventually gave their support to this endeavor by passing a joint resolution endorsing the same.

Cauayan City Mayor Bernard Faustino M. Dy, the Chairperson of the RDC2-Committee on Development Administration and Communication (CODAC), presented the HRAC & ROL strategy during the meeting and stressed that it aims to widen the democratic space for civil society organizations, peoples’ organizations, and non-government organizations to become part of local governance.

He added that the approach is in line with the framework of the government’s PAyapa at MAsaganang PAmayanan (PAMANA) Program and the President’s social contract with the Filipino people which prioritizes a “Just and Lasting Peace and the Rule of Law.”

“The HRAC & ROL strategy aims to organize Human Rights Action Teams at the provincial, city, municipal, and barangay levels to ensure the mainstreaming of human rights,” Mayor Dy said.

The strategy was designed to strengthen the Barangay Human Rights Action Centers (BHRACs), whose main mandate is to empower the citizens to take the lead in the promotion and protection of human rights at the grassroots.

To further guide the implementation of the HRAC & ROL strategy, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) promulgated Joint Memorandum No. 1 in 2014 which called for the mainstreaming of human rights through rule of law and access to justice at the provincial, city, municipality, and barangay levels.

During the meeting, RDC 2 private sector representative Corona C. Borja asked the possibility of including the teaching of the strategy in the K to 12 curriculum given that it can most likely address the recurring problem of child bullying.

RDC2 Acting Chair and NEDA Regional Director MaryAnne E.R. Darauay informed the members of both councils that such recommendation shall be elevated to the National Social Development Committee for further deliberation. #