Following the upcoming Barangay Elections on October 28, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) is set to re-issue next week its Human Rights Advisory on the 'Permit-to-Campaign' plot by the New People’s Army and other rebel groups.
This Advisory would reiterate CHR’s call for the public to continue raising its awareness and to “mobilize its opinion into taking specific actions on how to prevent such illegal conduct”.
In a seven-page advisory, the CHR underscores that the Permit to Campaign Scheme is a “form of extortion being perpetrated by the NPA and other non-state actors, is repugnant in all possible ways to valued human rights principles and standards, not only of candidates and political parties, but of the individual voters as well.”
There were media reports in the past concerning the NPA’s Permit to Campaign Scheme, a practice that prevents political parties and candidates from entering certain territories, which were, allegedly, under the control of these non-state groups.
To be able to have the right of entry, candidates would have to give a certain amount in exchange for a pass to campaign.
CHR, in the advisory, explains that, this practice “arrogates to the requiring group the powers rightfully belonging to the people and lawfully designated authorities and disregards the rule of law, and scoffs at the principles of free, fair and genuine elections”.
The basic principles on the human right to electoral participation are enshrined in the 1987 Constitution, in international law instruments such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, among others.
The fundamental rights spoken in these legal documents are: the right to take part in government; the right to vote and be elected; and the right to equal access to public service.
The CHR Advisory will be made available on Monday, October 21.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=577823
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