Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista has given the green light for the creation of an action center that will oversee the development of local policies and legislation to address issues on human rights, access to justice and rule of law in the city.
QC Ordinance 2411 S-2015, signed into law by Mayor Bautista on June 23, provides for the creation of the city’s human rights action center.
Under the measure principally authored by Councilor Bayani Hipol, the action center shall maintain close coordination with the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), other human rights service providers and civil society organizations, for the development and implementation of the city’s human rights program.
Prior to the creation of the center, a partnership between the QC government and the CHR was sealed through a memorandum of agreement signed by Mayor Bautista and Commissioner Loretta Ann P. Rosales, for purposes of coordinating efforts in providing legal measures and legal aid to the underprivileged whose human rights have been violated or are in need of protection.
The center, which will be operating under the Office of the Mayor, shall be manned by a team composed of career personnel from different city departments and offices.
The city administrator, as provided under the ordinance, shall sit as chairperson of the QC human rights action team while the city’s legal officer and the chairman of the city council’s committee on justice and human rights, shall be designated as co-chair.
Members of the city’s human rights action team shall include representatives from the city’s social services development department, city planning and development office, health department, environmental protection and waste management department, public affairs and information services office, and the office of the city council secretary. The QC Police District, the civil society group and the barangays, will also be represented in the team.
The implementing rules and guidelines that will be promulgated relative to the creation of the center shall be governed by the provisions of a memorandum circular issued by the CHR and the DILG in December last year. These provisions also are integral part of the newly-approved ordinance. (Precy)
Posted By: Lynne Pingoy
