• THERESA MAE DULMAN
Human rights advocates and local officials gathered at the Bacolod City Government Center on Thursday, May 21, for a capacity-building seminar marking the initial implementation of the city’s new Barangay Human Rights Action Center (BCHRAC) Ordinance.
The training, facilitated by the Commission on Human Rights in the Negros Island Region (CHR-NIR), was led by CHR Commissioner and Spokesperson Atty. Beda Epres and author of the ordinance, Councilor Wilson Gamboa Jr.
The ordinance covers public officials and persons in authority who hold power and positions in local barangays, including barangay tanods.
The measure is intended to report both elected and appointed public officials who abuse their authority. Gamboa noted that while the local desks are available, complainants also retain the option to report directly to the city government or the CHR.
According to Gamboa, the establishment of these human rights desks in every barangay is designed to make the system more accessible and convenient for the public, as designated desk officers will directly assist residents in processing complaints against erring public officials.
Gamboa stated that this initiative positions Bacolod City alongside Quezon City and Baguio City as pioneering local government units institutionalizing the BHRAC framework.
“It has always been an advocacy of the Commission on Human Rights to cascade the human rights talk to a barangay level as they are the first line or forefront when it comes to the protection of their jurisdiction,” Epres said.*
