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PICC, Pasay City , Philippines
11 December 2008
delivered by
LEILA M. DE LIMA
Chairperson, Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines
Innovative Approaches to Promoting Human Rights as a Means of Combating Corruption
Good morning.
The distorting effect of pervasive corruption on the right to development requires no introduction. It is enough to state, as has been underscored many times ove r, that corruption has amplified economic inequality and therefore it not only impedes development in general, but it is discriminatory especially against the poor.
In a speech delivered in the 15 th National Convention of the Task Force Detainees of the Philippines ( TFDP ) , I had said that the struggle to promote human rights in the midst of war, and more pertinent to today's event , in the midst of corruption, requires a change in tactics and perspective. Large-scale corruption is dealt with in the a traditional mode - through congressional committees. As is the hallmark of endless inquiries, it is infected with politicking and achieves very little results, or none at all.
The assembly today is of particular significance because, just as the Commission had previously taken the position that innovation is required to combat corruption, now we have civil society en masse present today to take on the most pervasive and rampant of ills contaminating our country. Indeed, in order to fully comply as a nation with the UN Convention Against Corruption, we need ideas that are more creative, more imaginative than the age-old implements of congressional hearings, a less-than-firebrand Ombudsman, a curiously quiet Sandiganbayan, and a bureaucratic prosecutorial service. We must be creative. We must be imaginative.
The Commission, for the purposes of this conference has prepared a very brief list of proposals. So my presentation now is very brief. These are limited to the issue of Access to Justice within a Human Rights Based Approach to Development. As this presentation is limited in length as well, the key concepts will be discussed very briefly.
Human Rights-Based Approach
“A rights-based approach to development is a conceptual framework for the process of human development that is normatively based on international human rights standards and operationally directed to promoting and protecting human rights.” ( As defined by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights)
In 2004, the United Nations agreed that human rights must be mainstreamed into all its programmes and defined the three main points of HRBA:
i. All programmes of development co-operation, policies and technical assistance should further realization of human rights as laid down in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights instruments;
ii. Human rights standards contained in, and principles derived from, the UDHR and other human rights instruments guide all development cooperation and programming in all sectors and in all phases of the programming process;
iii. Development cooperation contributes to the development of the capacities of duty bearers to meet their obligations and/or of rights holders to claim their rights.
Access to Justice
Access to Justice is defined by the UNDP as, “The ability of people to seek and obtain a remedy through formal or informal institutions of justice, and in conformity with human rights standards”
In conformity with these definitions of Access to Justice in a HRBA, the Commission proposes the following measures intended specifically to ensure that the marginalized and poor or those who do not have the pecuniary means to participate in on equal footing in a corrupt system of justice.
The Commission flagship project remains to be the BHRAC, which consists of the integration of Barangay Human Rights Officers present in a majority of the barangays nationwide. The importance of having a Commission presence at the grass root levels of the political hierarchy is found in the potential for a broad coverage in delivering the message of the UNCAC.
Central to the HRBA and any plan to promote the UNCAC is to educate and inform the public. National coverage and community integration through the BHRAC thus becomes an essential piece to the logistical challenge of disseminating information to as many Filipinos as possible.
The key to having meaningful change in the padrino -culture that permeates Filipino society is to meet the broad problem of corruption with an equally broad approach to educating the public. The framework exists already. It is high time w e maximize the use of the BHRAC, with its three-folded mandate: (1) human rights advocacy, awareness raising and dissemination of human rights principles, norms and standards; (2) complaints receiving and processing and referral to CHR regional offices and sub-offices concerned; and (3) mobilization for quick responses to situations or incidents with human rights dimension.
It should be noted that the sector of society most victimized by corruption is the poor. Most of their encounters with corruption are also at the local level. These include encounters with prosecutors during preliminary investigations, local police during arrests and detentions, fire brigades during disasters, officials at the municipal halls in the procurement of government documents, teachers in local schools in relation , for example, to transcripts of educational services, MTC Judges and branch staff in the course of court cases. This enumeration is, by far, not exclusive. Yet the common thread is that much of the corruption that severely affects the poor occur at the lowest levels of the government bureaucracy.
The involvement in human rights-based developments is not uncommon. Once example of this is the NZHRC-CHRP Project for Indigenous Communities, which specifically employs the participation of the local government. This project tackles , among others , issues on access to justice, which has a direct correlation to lack of finances available to indigenous peoples.
On a project that is specifically geared towards ridding corruption at the lowest levels, the involvement of both the BHRAC and the local government is essential. Through cooperation between the local government and organized, participative communities, the development of simplified and transparent procedures for government transactions and grievance mechanisms can be established.
The issuance of a clear policy statement to the effect that corruption, especially corruption that discriminates against the poor, is a grave human rights violation, makes the complaint of corruption within the purview of the broad powers of the Commission. Just as other human rights violations taken up by the Commission are investigated and prosecution-ready files are prepared, complaints of corruption brought before the Commission should be the subject attention of the Comm ission's complement of lawyers and investigators.
While this requires a delicate balance of roles between the Ombudsman and other anti-graft and corruption agencies, it is certainly not beyond agreement. Memoranda of Agreement between the Commission and other government agencies are not uncommon.
Prologue
T hese proposed measures, are just the Commission’s marden ideas to propel the Commission’s own engagement in the battle against corruption. More proposals are being crafted as part of our institution’s continuing policy and program formulations. I also intend to present a more comprehensive and incisive discourses on the relations between human rights and corruption in the forum. It is refutable that corruption breeds grave violation of human rights. T he proposed measures suggest a recognition that the single most important step in eliminating corruption is education. From the human rights-based perspective, the largest social category, which includes those below and just above the poverty-line have to be the first to be targeted with the drive to educate people about corruption. They must be first because they are the most vulnerable to it. They have the least amount of available or disposable wealth to waste on corrupt practices. They can afford the least to dole out, albeit small amounts, for tong, padulas and others seemingly negligibly minute cases of corruption.
Yet notice that it is the poor, the wage earner, the laborer, the hawker, and the ambulant vendor, among all social classes, are the first to surrender to corruption. They are the first to offer money for small favors. They are the first to even consider that money is due, even where no bribe is sought. Why is this so? It is from their humble stature in life, where they own few possessions, where they have no educational attainment, where they derive this notion that they DO NOT DESERVE anything that they receive or benefit from. They thi nk they DO NOT DESERVE to live in peace while they sell their goods. They think they DO NOT DESERVE to have their cedula stamped, their NBI clearance issues, their driver's license renewed. They think they do not deserve freedom to operate their jeep or tricycle franchises lawfully. They think that ever little thing must have a price, because they deserve nothing.
We talk of corruption and its immensity and pervasiveness, depicted in the real-life-dramas of Senate inquiries broadcasted over cable television. We talk about the million and billions of pesos lost in some elaborate, layered strategem to elude detection through audit, designed by high official, cloaked by subordinates of high officials. We talk about with the names of Neri, Lozada, Abalos, Bolante, among others, ringing in our ears.
With all the pomp and circumstance that goes with television grandstanding, have we, the captured audience of these melodramas, really asked where the real battle to crush corruption really lies? In the hallowed halls of Senate, perhaps? In the Sandiganbayan? The Supreme Court? On the streets? Where do we start?
It lies in the hearts of men. It lies in the hearts of the tens of millions of Filipinos who live in the most modest of conditions, who think that they do not deserve to be treated fairly and equally with anyone who has money to burn. It lies in the hearts of these people who think they do not deserve anything and thus will pay the cost of corruption with the nothing that they have.
The battle lies in the riddance of the padrino -culture. Does this mean we rid ourselves of the padrino ? No. We rid ourselves of the mind-set that drives hordes of poor people to ask “personal” favors from their Kapitans, Mayors, Kagawads, Fiscals, Tinientes, and Sargentos, because they do not deserve to ask for these things from their government.
The hallmark of the rights based approach is educating stakeholders and making them part of the participatory process. This is where is we must take on the campaign against corruption. We start with the sector most vulnerable to the ill effects of corruption. We must start at the very start. We must start at the very core. It is in the hearts of men, the poorest among us, the ones who think they deserve nothing, yet in law and in the eyes of God, deserve everything.
Thank you for this opportunity to share these thoughts.
Good day!