A PROGRAM PROMOTING HUMAN RIGHTS AND PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS\u201d
\nMarch 17, 2016, Bahay Kalinaw
\nUP Diliman, Quezon City<\/p>\n
On behalf of the officers, heads of member churches and the associates of the National Secretariat of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines and the organizations belonging to our Consortium, I welcome you to this public launch of our human rights project \u201cConfronting Challenges on Human Rights Defenders in the Philippines\u201d.<\/p>\n
Humans are created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26). This is the basis of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines\u2019 concern for human rights. The imperative to serve, as far as the NCCP and human rights are concerned, means the preservation of humanity, the protection of all persons and the vigilant effort to guarantee that all persons will benefit equally from God’s abundant bounty and providence. When human rights are denied and violated, it is a violation against God, because it is God’s image inherent in every human person that is being violated.<\/p>\n
It is this understanding that has put the defense of human rights at the center of Christian social witness and engagement. It became more pronounced in the ecumenical movement\u2019s engagement since the ratification of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights following the Second World War. Any affront to human dignity is a human rights issue. The Preamble of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights enshrines this right: \u201cWhereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.\u201d The defense of human rights transcends national borders, faith communities, ethnicities, and any other divisions that fragment our world, because it is about defending the dignity of the human person.<\/p>\n
Since then Christians around the world have risen to the occasion. One of the most profound statements ever made was that of Martin Niem\u00f6ller, a German Protestant Pastor who during the Second World War had the courage to speak out against the complicity of the Protestant Churches and the abuses under the Third Riech.<\/p>\n
First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out\u2014
\nBecause I was not a Socialist.
\nThen they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out\u2014
\nBecause I was not a Trade Unionist.
\nThen they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out\u2014
\nBecause I was not a Jew.
\nThen they came for me\u2014and there was no one left to speak for me.<\/p>\n
The defense of human rights is a task for every person. If I fail to defend the rights of others my own humanity is compromised and undermined. By self-definition also, it is the Church\u2019s vocation to stand with and for the vulnerable. This derives from a theological understanding of being in solidarity with those pushed into the margins and speaking prophetically to those who dominate and control.<\/p>\n
Many are aware of the tragedy that has been unfolding among our indigenous brothers and sisters in Mindanao, lately. Their communities have been militarized, their schools occupied by armed groups, and their leaders subject to vilification, harassment and extrajudicial killings. Perpetrators have yet been made to account. The latest travesty was the deliberate burning of part of the Haran Mission Center, a facility of one of our NCCP member churches offered as a sanctuary to Lumad refugees. Two weeks ago I was in Davao and saw it myself. Like the farmer in the parable of the weeds, I said to myself: \u201cAn enemy has done this\u201d (Matthew 13:28).<\/p>\n
Bishop Reuel Norman Marigza, General Secretary of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) and whose church has been red-tagged by elements of the military and other groups, echoed the sense of solidarity with victims implied in Pastor Niem\u00f6ller\u2019s statement. He said, \u201cIf by responding to the plight of our Lumad brothers and sisters we are labeled as communists, so be it. We\u2019d rather be branded as communists than to give up our mission to help the least of Christ\u2019s sisters and brothers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Because the defense of human rights is a universal task, it should come as a no surprise that the EU is collaborating once more with the NCCP and its consortium partners.<\/p>\n
The EU and NCCP\u2019s partnership formally started on July 2, 2010 with our project called \u201cChurches as Havens and Sanctuaries for Human Rights\u201d under the EPJUST (EU-Philippines Justice Support Programme). The program ran until July 1, 2011. Under this partnership, we rendered services to victims and\/or survivors such as medical, educational, legal and paralegal assistance, psychosocial therapy, livelihood support and sanctuary to 258 victims and\/or families of victims of HR violations (42% of whom are minors) services on Luzon Island.<\/p>\n
Almost simultaneously, the NCCP and the EU collaborated again for, \u201cDefending the Defenders: A Program Promoting Human Rights and Protection of Human Rights Defenders\u201d under the EIDHR program. The Program was implemented from September 1, 2010 to September 30, 2012. The two-year project provided direct assistance to 137 human rights defenders and rights abuse victims (including 47 individuals who were given sanctuary support, most of them with their families) and conducted 12 fact finding missions that monitored and documented rights abuses as well as organised two national conferences and 12 fora and trained 459 beneficiaries on human rights laws and principles (if we add the participants on awareness raising fora\/symposia on various human rights issues, which is 1,348, the total number of beneficiaries for educational activities is 1,807). Overall the project reached more than 3,600 beneficiaries.<\/p>\n
The EU has accompanied us in our work and I dare say stands by our affirmation that the defense of human rights in the Philippines is the defense of human rights everywhere. Human rights atrocities can be stopped when advocates for peace and justice everywhere collaborate – when dreamers of a better world dare to make it happen.<\/p>\n
Finally, even as we thank the European Union for accompanying us again in the next three years, we also join and congratulate the EU in observing and celebrating 25 years of the European Union presence in the Philippines and the various partnerships forged between the European Union and the Philippines in those years. Thank you and may God continue to encourage us.<\/p>\n
REV. REX RB REYES, Jr.
\nGeneral Secretary <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A PROGRAM PROMOTING HUMAN RIGHTS AND PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS\u201d March 17, 2016, Bahay Kalinaw UP Diliman, Quezon City On behalf of the officers, heads of member churches and<\/p>\n