Undersecretary Severo Catura
MANILA -- Government workers were reminded on Tuesday to uphold human rights by taking seriously the words found in a “Human Rights Pledge” crafted especially for them, a Palace official said on Tuesday.
Undersecretary Severo Catura of the Presidential Human Rights Committee Secretariat (PHRCS) made the call as the world commemorates International Human Rights Day and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).
Catura said the Human Rights Pledge for Government Workers, which was crafted last year, keeps up with the good governance agenda of the Duterte administration.
He urged government workers to reaffirm commitment as the “true human rights protectors” and “defenders of our people” especially the most vulnerable groups in the society.
“Let us claim and uphold this commitment, bearing in mind and taking to heart that, in the words of no less than our President, ‘human rights must uplift human dignity,’” Catura said.
Below is the Human Rights Pledge for government workers:
Panunumpa ng Kawani ng Pamahalaan Bilang Tunay na Tagapagtanggol ng Karapatang Pantao:
Ako’y kawani ng pamahalaan. Ako’y tagapagtanggol ng karapatang pantao. Nasa aking puso ang pagmamahal at pagmamalasakit sa aking kapuwa, lalo na sa mga mas nangangailangan ng kalinga at pag-aaruga —
Ang mga mahirap na inaabuso ng mga may kapangyarihan;
Ang mga magsasaka, mangingisda, at empleado ng mga oligarka;
Ang mga inaaping kababaihan, kabataan, maykapansanan, kababayang nangibang-bansa upang makipagsapalaran, at katutubong mamamayan; at
Ang mga biktima ng kriminalidad, korupsiyon, terorismo, at bawal na droga.
Ang aking kaisipan ay patuloy na uunawa sa kanilang kalagayan. Ako’y tutugon sa pamamagitan ng pagbalangkas ng mga patakaran at pagpapatupad ng mga programang akma sa kanilang pangangailangan.
Ang mga ito’y aking tutupdin ayon sa patnubay ng kasalukuyang administrasyon na ninanais na mapabuti ang kasalukuyang katayuan at kinabukasan ng bawat Filipino.
Sa ganitong paraan, magiging bahagi ako sa pag-angat ng dignidad ng bawat Filipino bílang mga táong nilikha ng Poong Maykapal. At ang bawat hakbang na aking tatahakin ay patungo sa pagkamit ng pangarap ng ating mga ninuno at bayani—isang bayang tunay na payapa at marangya.
Ako’y kawani ng pamahalaan. Ako’y TOTOONG tagapagtanggol ng karapatang pantáo.
Human Rights Day is being commemorated every December 10, the same day the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed the UN Declaration of Human Rights in 1948.
The UDHR is a foundational document of international human rights law which was drafted by representatives with different legal and cultural backgrounds from all regions of the world as “a common standard of achievements for all peoples and all nations.” (PNA)
