PEOPLE who seek for justice and want their rights protected now have the access, as the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro relaunched its Human Rights Access to Justice Initiative (HRAJI) program on Tuesday, November 26.
The HRAJI is the church's action to bring access to justice and legal empowerment to communities.
Lawyer Ernesto Neri, HRAJI focal person, said it will serve as a hub for rights education and access to justice concerns.
Neri said HRAJI will provide free legal services to people who have legal problems but have no capacity to hire lawyers.
HRAJI also organizes paralegal trainings and rights literacy sessions in parishes to teach and inform people of their rights.
"What we're trying to do is to train other point persons in the parishes that will also link up to the Archdiocese human rights desk," Neri said.
The HRAJI was first launched on November 23, 2018, where a coalition of various related agencies and non-government organizations convened.
"We were engaging with justice welfare, case referrals in the Archdiocese level. But there's really no effort pa that would allow it to sink in the parishes. That's our objective today," Neri said.
The HRAJI official hopes the public will see the initiative as an important endeavor driven not only by human rights, but also the faith tradition of the Catholic Church in terms of social justice and legal empowerment.
"And hopefully, the public would also see a venue where they can go to if they have legal problems," Neri said.
While their services are free of charge, he said poor individuals who need legal assistance the most remains their priority, regardless of religion.