DESCRIPTION:
The subject of human rights is difficult to present and discuss outside expert and advocate circles. Human rights no longer has the compelling draw that it had during the Marcos dictatorship (1972-1986) when the wholesale and rampant violation of civil and political rights and the authoritarian approach to development made everyone more sensitive to the need for sustained public awareness of human rights and related issues.

The tendency to discuss human rights in abstract terms turns off most people who have had little experience of its abuse. In developing democracies, human rights abuses seldom figure prominently in public awareness, and media attention quickly wanes. Without public understanding and appreciation through media reports and interpretation, the protection of human rights will often remain only as words on paper, and in laws that are observed more often in the breach than the observance. Aware of these realities, while concerned with the continuing violations of human rights that in some respects rival those of the Marcos period, the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility produced a video to help the lay audience contextualize the discussion of human rights in the realities of the Philippines and its history.

**Copyright © 2010 By the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (http://www.cmfr-phil.org)
**This video is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents are the responsibility of the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID, the United States Government, or The Asia Foundation.