CHR to uphold human rights in ARMM

MARAWI CITY, Lanao del Sur, May 4 (PIA) -- A Commission on Human Rights (CHR) official reiterated that the agency will uphold the rights of the indigenous and Moro peoples in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) in the context of their culture and history of struggle for human development. 


CHR Chairperson Etta Rosales, in a meeting with regional officials and representatives of Moro civil society organizations, said that for the first time in 22 years of ARMM’s existence, the CHR is establishing a regional office in the ARMM, on the persistent recommendation of ARMM Officer-In-Charge Governor Mujiv Hataman. 

Rosales said human rights would be upheld in the ARMM, not merely by CHR standards, but in the context also of the rich experience of the Bangsamoro in their history of continuing struggle in many diverse fields of endeavor, including socio-economic, cultural, and political development. 

"It is you, with respect to your rich culture and great history of struggle, that would uphold and defend human rights in the context of socio-economic, cultural and political development," Rosales pointed out. 

Rosales said putting up the CHR-ARMM unit has been “a dream coming true” that she, Hataman, and President Benigno Simeon Aquino III had shared in common since they first met as lawmakers in the House of Representatives.