In a meeting with UN Resident Coordinator in the Philippines Gustavo Gonzalez, President-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr highlighted the “importance of ensuring high level of accountability in terms of human rights.” UN, for its part, said that it would continuously support “all efforts of the Philippines on the human rights agenda.”

The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) welcomes this statement from President-elect Marcos Jr and looks forward to the support of the incoming administration to initiatives advancing the human rights cause in the country, including the UN Joint Program on Human Rights.

To recall, the said UN Joint Program implements the Human Rights Council Resolution 45/33 adopted in October 2020 meant to carry out capacity-building and technical cooperation for the promotion and protection of human rights in the country. This partnership between the Philippine government and UN is seen as a critical milestone in addressing the gaps and lapses similarly raised by CHR in protecting the rights of Filipinos in the past years.

With the said expression of support, CHR hopes that respect and protection of human rights will be part of the main agenda of governance of the incoming administration; thereby, uplifting the lives of all Filipinos. In turn, CHR affirms its adherence to its constitutional mandate of being an independent national human rights institution serving as watchdog, monitor, educator, and adviser to the government so it may better serve its obligation to respect, protect, and fulfill human rights. ###