Northern Luzon cities see mixed human rights progress
BACNOTAN, La Union — Establishing functional “Human Rights Cities” across Northern Luzon requires sustained community participation, stronger civil society organizations, and accountable local governance rather than the mere passage of local legislation, a project leader said Thursday.
Rhoda Dalang, project manager of the Human Rights Cities Project Northern Luzon, presented the two-year assessment during the second day of the Second Inter-City Learning Exchange held at the Don Mariano Marcos Memorial State University (DMMMSU) International Convention Center in La Union.
Reviewing developments across Baguio, Tabuk, Santiago, and San Fernando cities, Dalang noted that local rights initiatives remain hampered by mutual distrust between authorities and advocates, limited policy advocacy capacity among civil society organizations and public misconceptions linking human rights work exclusively to left-wing politics.
She added that harassment, intimidation, fabricated legal charges, and “red-tagging” — the practice of labeling activists as communist rebels — continue to deter grassroots participation.
In Baguio City, the enactment of City Ordinance No. 78-2024, or the Human Rights Defenders Ordinance, in January 2025 halted red-tagging on official social media pages of the Philippine National Police and local government offices, though anonymous troll accounts remain active.
Baguio also allocated P600,000 for human rights activities in 2026 and P5 million through the Department of Education to develop human rights learning modules.
Other participating cities reported mixed progress. In Tabuk City, Kalinga, a proposed Kalinga Human Rights Action Center Ordinance cleared the city legislative council but stalled without executive approval, underscoring the need to align both branches of local government.
In Santiago City, Isabela, persistent fear among community groups continues to restrict civic engagement.
Over at San Fernando City, La Union, local government and CSO initiatives have largely operated on separate tracks, although joint programs involving the Commission on Human Rights and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights have gained traction.
Small-scale fishers across 14 coastal villages in the city have also organized to assert municipal fishing rights against commercial vessels following a recent Supreme Court ruling.