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June 27, 2009

CHR CHAIRPERSON DE LIMA ON THE 2010 ELECTION:
“LET THE VULNERABLE SECTORS' BALLOTS FURTHER EMPOWER THEM”

Davao City – Commission on Human Rights (CHR) Chairperson Leila M. De Lima is back in Davao City today but this time not to continue the much-talked about investigations on the Rebelyn Pitao and the Davao Death Squads cases but to keep the ball rolling on the CHR's campaign for the empowerment of the vulnerable sectors in the coming 2010 elections.

Together with its partners, the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) and Task Force 2010 (TF2010), the CHR is not only focused on advocating for a non-violent, clean and credible national election next year. According to Chairperson De Lima, aside from electoral participation, the idea behind the vulnerable sectors' inclusion in the 2010 election is to facilitate their empowerment as important members of society. “In the case of vulnerable sectors who have been disenfranchised for any number of reasons, the exercise of the right to vote allows them to directly affect public policy. This is especially important because it is precisely vulnerable groups, such as persons with disabilities, internally displaced persons, the elderly, indigenous people, detainees, and migrant workers, among others, who are disproportionately burdened by certain government policies and programs” De Lima said.

De Lima adds: “Government officials may currently feel free to ignore these sectors, because their ability to vote is significantly constrained, if not completely stripped. They are not present in the minds of politicians. Once these sectors are able to meaningfully exercise their right to vote, however, they will be able to bring public pressure to bear on government leaders. Politicians will have to listen to them. The government will have to consider them in its decisions.”

According to the CHR top official, the idea behind the action plan for maximum participation of vulnerable sectors in the electoral process, is to achieve Zero disenfranchisement. The more members who are registered and able to vote, the better for the electoral exercise. The outcome of this exercise, according to Chair De Lima, will demonstrate how sincere the country's leaders are in reaching out to every Filipino.

In September 17, 2008 , the CHR, TF2010, IFES and USAID organized a forum on “Ensuring the Right to Electoral Participation, Giving Access to Vulnerable Sectors in 2010.” The successful event was participated in by members of both government and civil society organizations representing and/or working with vulnerable sectors. They identified issues and barriers to the participation of these groups, whose members are particularly vulnerable to disenfranchisement, marginalization and human rights violations.

The vulnerable sectors identified for this initiative are: (1) persons with disabilities; (2) first time voters; (3) internally displaced persons; (4) the elderly; (5) indigenous peoples; (6) detainees; and (7) migrant workers.

The consultations will be held at the Board Room, 7th Floor, Finster Building , Ateneo de Davao, Davao City . Aside from representatives from the CHR and TF 2010, over forty (40) civil society representatives are also expected to participate in the workshop.

Further rounds of consultations will also be held in Pampanga, Baguio , Calbayog and Zamboanga.