The Commission on Human Rights (CHR), as the country’s Gender Ombud under the Magna Carta of Women, lauds the Quezon City government for its fruitful efforts to protect women’s and children’s rights, as recognised by the Regional Inter-agency Monitoring Team (RIMT) of the Department of the Interior and Local Government-National Capital Region (DILG-NCR). Besides giving Quezon City a score of 100 for an audit covering Performance Year 2021, the RIMT also recognized Quezon City’s innovations and interventions serving to address Violence Against Women and their Children (VAWC) within the city.

The RITM assessed the Quezon City government based on the criteria on organisation; meetings; policies, plan, and budget; and accomplishment and gave the local government an adjectival rating of “IDEAL.”

One of the initiatives lauded was the directive to the Quezon City Police District (QCPD), the Quezon City Protection Center, and the Gender and Development Office to increase their effort in monitoring and responding to reports of VAWC. Residents of Quezon City were equally encouraged to report abuses against women and children through Hotline 122, or to the barangay and the women’s desks of the QCPD.

The Quezon City Gender and Development Integrated Management Information System, a unified database also known as the ‘QC VAW Centralized Databank System’, was similarly developed to aid in tracking and responding to reported VAWC cases across 142 barangays and police stations in the city.

To date, the Quezon City government has also created the Quezon City Protection Center for Victims of Gender-Based Violence and Abuse, a one-stop crisis center for women, children, and members of the LGBTQI community offering multidisciplinary interventions for victims of violence and abuse, and the Bahay Kalungan, one of the pioneering local government-run shelters for abused women, children, and members of the LGBTQI community, which also serves as a temporary shelter for victim-survivors of gender-based violence and abuse.

CHR extends due recognition to the Quezon City government for embodying the principles promoted by the Philippines’ Magna Carta of Women, by the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and its Optional Protocol (OP-CEDAW), the Yogyakarta Principles, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child among others.

CHR encourages other local governments take inspiration from Quezon City’s good practices and initiatives in taking a proactive role in the promotion and protection of women’s rights and gender equality. Gender-based violence and abuse negatively impact a woman’s overall well-being and their ability to fully participate in society, by perpetuating inequality and discrimination against women. By defending the rights and dignity of women, local governments can foster the development and stability of families, communities, and societies as a whole. ###