Published December 25, 2020, 11:48 AM
The year 2020 is unlike any other, as the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic brought nations down to its knees and the community quarantines required Filipinos to stay indoors in order to curb its transmission.
Throughout all these ordeals, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) remained on its toes and kept a lookout against human rights violations. Concerned about women and children being stuck at home with their abusers, as well as sexual exploitation of children on the rise, the CHR broughts its services online.
CHR Spokesperson Atty. Jacqueline Ann de Guia said that they promoted the CHR Webinar Series called “Human rights in the time of Covid-19” in order to “educate the public and stakeholders on human rights principles and the importance of a human rights-based approach in ensuring the rights of the vulnerable sectors in this period of pandemic.”
AFP personnel urged to also act as human rights defenders
ASIDE FROM being the mandated defenders of the people and the state, all Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) personnel must be able to act as human rights officers.
AFP Human Rights Office chief, Col. Joel Alejandro Nacnac, made the call following the virtual participation of 300 military personnel in the 2020 Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (IHL) Summit on Dec. 11. The AFP shall continue to adhere to human rights, IHL, and the rule of law. As participants of this summit, we are expected to guard these rights in our communities and areas of responsibility, Nacnac said in a statement Sunday.
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In a statement Sunday, Gen. Gilbert Gapay, AFP chief of staff, assured the public that the military “will stand up for human rights and continue to stand by its principles, even in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic” in the performance of their mandate as protector of the people and the State.
“Security is a shared responsibility. With every Filipino’s cooperation, we can all be human rights advocates and peace builders. Let us all ensure that the tenets of Universal Declaration of Human Rights are upheld and respected,” Gapay said.
The same commitment was stressed by Col. Joel Alejandro Nacnac, chief of the AFP Human Rights Office, during the online 2020 Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (IHL) Summit last Friday.