ANC, the ABS-CBN News Channel, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), the Philippine National Police (PNP), and the Alternative Law Groups have linked arms to champion the protection of human rights in the nation.

Col. Domingo Tutaan, head of the AFP Human Rights office, said that this alliance aims to trigger awareness and advocacy of human rights, especially in the state’s security sector.

“Our mandate is the protection of the people and the state, and this is one way we can manifest the military’s real concern for the protection of human rights, and our abidance to the human rights law,” he said.

This ground-breaking partnership between media and the military and police starts with a special screening of the human rights film series “Kinse” at the AFP Theater last Thursday (June 23), in cooperation with the Embassy of the Kingdom of Netherlands, a known proponent of human rights.

The Embassy co-presented the ANC film project “Kinse,” a collection of 15 short films on various human rights directed by the Philippines’ top independent filmmakers including Erik Matti, Carlitos Siguion-Reyna, and Raymond Red.

First screened last May 19 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino, and aired via a six-part special on ANC SkyCable ch. 27, “Kinse” was watched by up to 1,000 guests at the AFP Theater, composed of the military, the police and NGOs.

Ging Reyes, the head of the ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs said the “Kinse” screening will be the first among many initiatives that the country’s first and premier cable news channel will be working on to raise the level of awareness about the human rights situation in the country.

Since last year, the AFP and the PNP have been active in campaigning for human rights within their ranks and to the general public in the hope of erasing the stigma brought about by various human rights violations tagged to soldiers and policemen.

The film screening is just one activity in the community–based dialogue sessions last June 22 to 23 implemented by the AFP and PNP with the CHR and the Alternative Law Groups to discuss human rights issues with local communities and outline programs that will enhance the observation of human rights throughout the nation.

The Alternative Law Groups is a coalition of non-government organizations with programs that offer developmental legal assistance primarily concerned with the pursuit of public interest, respect for human rights and promotion of social justice.

Lending a hand to make this project possible are the Ninoy and Cory Aquino Foundation and the Hanns Seidel Foundation.