Human Rights Day is observed by the international community every year on 10th of December. It commemorates the day in 1948 the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The formal inception of Human Rights Day dates from 1950, after the Assembly passed resolution 423 (V) inviting all States and interested organizations to adopt December 10 of each year as Human Rights Day. When the General Assembly adopted the Declaration, with 48 states in favor and eight abstentions, it was proclaimed as a “common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations”, towards which individuals and societies should “strive by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance”. Although the Declaration with its broad range of political, civil, social, cultural and economic rights is not a binding document, it inspired more than 60 human rights instruments which together constitute an international standard of human rights. Today the general consent of all United Nations Member States on the basic Human Rights laid down in the Declaration makes it even stronger and emphasizes the relevance of Human Rights in our daily lives.
In the said 48 states who voted in favor of the declaration, Philippines is one them. However, for almost seven decades, to wit, for 67 years, numerous counts of human rights violations had increased in the Philippines. The government which is ought to be the instrumentality or agency to protect the rights of its citizenry is the number one violator of the said declaration. The government through the use of its armed forces, the national police and paramilitary groups, inflict unbearable and inhumane acts to the people who are oppressed especially the national minorities. This is just a clear manifestation of the worsening state fascism using the iron hand to protect and preserve their interests. Moreover, these violations also extends to individuals, group of individuals and organizations who seeks to serve the people in the far flung areas of the country.
In the different parts of the country, the counter insurgency program of BS Aquino which is the Oplan Bayanihan had orphaned many children’s nationwide. This counter insurgency program was based on the Counter Insurgency Guide of the United States who influenced the Philippine government to its imperialist design for the country. Thousands of peoples were also to evacuate their homes and lands because of this program.
CDPC as a non-government organization extending aid to people from the far flung areas of the Cordillera and helping the community to get up on their feet by any means possible had experienced this violations. Its staffs were vilified as communist sympathizers just because of their good intensions to serve their fellow countrymen is clear violation of their rights. The government had failed to serve its citizenry that why organizations such as CDPC exist to help these people but instead of receiving praise or gratitude from the government they are being vilified. Thus, CDPC together with other organizations, individuals and other personalities in the national and international community, vehemently condemns the worsening human rights violation and hope that the perpetuators be punished what is due them.
