It is a known fact that Philippines is a democratic country; people can

be as free as they want so long as their exercise of freedom is within the

bounds of the law. Here, your basic human rights are respected and
protected. Sounds enticing right? But dont fall in love with this idea right
away. The surface may be pleasing to the eyes but once you dig deeper,
surely youll discover the ugliness it tries to conceive from us. It would not
take you that long to turn your nose away from the stink this government
hides.
According to an online article by Human Rights Watch, human rights
violations in the country have declined under the Aquino administration. In
all fairness to the presidency of His Excellency, extra judicial killings,
enforced disappearances and torture are comparatively lower than the
previous administration. But still, they continue to exist. The Aquino
administration has failed to keep its promise of a more concrete action plan
against human rights violations in the country. Committees have been
formed before, just like the Special Task Force Against Extra Judicial Killings
and Enforced Disappearances but according to the same article it has failed
to deliver results. This move was more of a PR strategy from the
government. Sounded like it was just ornamental, but not functional. But one
has to look beyond these human rights issues, because there are more to
these, not just the killings and the disappearances.
According to the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights,
state participants, (that includes the Philippines) have three obligations.
a. Obligation to Respect
b. Obligation to Protect
c. Obligation to Fulfill
Let us assess each of these areas accordingly.
The diversity and plurality of the Philippines must be
safeguarded through respect and tolerance. The State must respect
and promote harmony and understanding between and among
individuals, communities and peoples. It must uphold nondiscrimination among peoples regardless of age, race, ethnicity,
religion, gender, physical ability, sexual orientation, social beliefs and
political convictions. Cultural traditions and institutionalized power
shall not serve as justification for any form of violence, abuse, neglect,
or deprivation of human and peoples rights.
This is one of the provisions written on the Human and Peoples Rights
Declaration of the Philippines. Its very idealistic. Words were beautifully

crafted to please whoever is reading it. But I believe that these are just
purely written ideas that never get to be realized.
It was clearly provided that there should be non-discrimination among people
regardless of ethnicity. But what is hugely apparent is that IPs are still
discriminated in many things, one of them is discrimination in education. In
the country, there are 2.5 million IP children. They live mostly in remote
areas where public schools offer limited services. Since they are IP children it
is very important that while they get civilized through formal education, they
should never forget their ethnic roots. This is where the problem stems. The
curriculum offered in these schools cannot address the special needs of
these IPs which could fit their own culture. IPs are also at risk of dropping out
of school because of poverty or because of the distance they have to travel
just to get in school. The fact that the government seem to not care about
this problem, for me, is discrimination already. Yes, there are measures taken
by DepEd to address this issue but it seem inadequate. Even if DepEd has
already devised a special curriculum for the IPs, when it comes to the
formulation of the curriculum, they are seldom invited to participate in the
discussion. Is this respect? Is this respect for their basic human right to have
a voice on something that greatly concerns them? I dont think so. The
government should be considerate also of their right to education. Shutting
them out from the discussions of curriculum development is unfair. In order
that IP education could progress, it would be helpful that there should be
dialogues between the IP and DepEd on curriculum development so that both
parties could land on same ground when it comes to education. Letting them
voice out what they really want is showing that their human rights is
respected. IPs are the living testaments of how culturally rich we are as a
country. Preservation of culture and heritage should be incorporated in the
specialized IP education so that the chain of our rich cultural legacy will
never be broken. This is how we show respect to the rights of the IPs who are
very much Filipino citizens of this country just like us.
In an article written by Mong Palatino in The Diplomat for its February
2015 issue, he said that there are about 5.5 million working children in the
country and 2.9 million of them are working in hazardous industries like
mines and plantations. Most of these children have stopped school. They
usually work for 10 hours even up to 16 sometimes if the situation demands
it. The Philippines is faced with the serious problem of child trafficking which
is committed for the purpose of labor, usually, in factories and as domestic
workers; for sexual exploitation and for illegal activities such as begging,
drug trading and illegal adoption. Children of poor families in the rural areas
are usually the target for child trafficking. Part of what the Constitution

demands to be protected are the children. The very fact that they are
children makes them vulnerable to so many things which is why they would
really need protecting. What has the government done to protect them from
being abused by these business owners who use their fragile bodies for
heavy labor? From these pedophiles who use their tender bodies for sexual
gratification?
There have been legislations passed to address this problem. RA 7610 is a
law that prohibits all forms of child labor. It gives protection to children
against exploitation and abuses. But is it really effective? Has it achieved its
goal to actually protect the Filipino children? If we are to answer in the
affirmative then the author of the above cited article might be saying
something which isnt true. If the plan of the government to combat child
abuse is really working in full swing, then why are all these data on child
abuse keep coming up? In my own belief, the government has failed to fulfill
its obligation to protect. We cannot deny the fact that child abuse is still
prevailing in the country. We have the laws but it doesnt have the teeth.
Child abusers never get prosecuted and if ever they do, they easily get away
with it. This is the sad reality.
The present government may say they have fulfilled their obligations in
ensuring that every citizen gets to enjoy basic human rights but I think
otherwise. If their only claim is that they have reduced incidence of extra
judicial killings, enforced disappearances and torture then they are
completely blind or are intentionally trying to shut their eyes to the whole
reality. The scope of human rights is beyond that. Housing conditions of the
less fortunate are worse than ever. A lot of children are deprived of education
because of poverty. There are incidences of harassment of women in the
workplace. Pnoy during his first sona has promised a lot of improvements to
human rights. But are there actual legislations that tend to cater to these
problems? And if there are, are they really effective? In all fairness, this
administration is better compared to its predecessor. But sometimes, he is
often led to a wrong direction. Instead of fulfilling the promises he made, he
got busy executing his vindictive plans and forgot that this country has more
serious problems that needs most of his attention. The government turns the
peoples attention away from these other human rights violation by simply
showing how much he condemned his predecessor instead of forming orders
that may eradicate or if not at least reduce said violations. Hes very proud in
sharing to everyone all his achievements in terms of economic development
but never had the guts to admit that problems concerning human rights still
exist. As long as these problems continue to plague our country, I will forever
have the opinion that the status of human rights in the Philippines will need

more improvement. There is so much more to fulfill, so many more to be

done in order that we may achieve improved conditions of human rights in
the country. Every day is a struggle, every day is a battle. The government is
the commander in chief, and we are soldiers ready to fight. If the
government never makes the move, if it doesnt create smart battle
strategies, then we will definitely loose the war against human rights
violations.

Human Rights in the Philippines: Seeing Beyond the Surface

An Essay on Human Rights Conditions

In the Philippines

Submitted by:
Czarina Mae Valencia
2B

Submitted to:
Atty. Jonie Dabuco
Professor, Human Rights Law

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

In Human Rights Law

October 19, 2015