Malacañang announced on Sunday that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has ordered the creation of a human rights “super body” made up of important government organizations.
The Presidential Human Rights Committee (PHRC) was established to improve procedures for advancing and defending human rights in the Philippines in accordance with Administrative Order 22, which was issued on May 8 by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin on behalf of the President.
The committee, which is chaired by the Office of the Executive Secretary, is composed of the secretaries of foreign affairs, interior, and local government as well as the secretary of justice.
The AO emphasizes how critical it is to maintain and build upon the accomplishments of the United Nations Joint Program on Human Rights (UNJP), which is scheduled to come to an end on July 31.
The International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are only a few of the international human rights agreements to which the Philippines is a state party.
Forming the PHRC and assigning it the task of creating a National Human Rights Action Plan is consistent with the nation’s obligations to international human rights organizations.
Prioritizing capacity-building and technical cooperation, the Philippines and UNJP have worked together in fields like criminal justice, policymaking, and law enforcement.
The duties of the special committee include carrying out investigations and guaranteeing accountability, compiling information on purported law enforcement breaches of human rights, improving civic involvement with the private sector, setting up national reporting and follow-up systems, and taking a human rights-centered stance on drug control and counterterrorism.
In particular, the “super body” is tasked with ensuring that laws protecting human rights are carried out effectively and that people who are deprived of their freedom are not subjected to torture or other cruel, inhumane, or humiliating treatment.
