Establishment of national human rights institutions in Asian region was started in the middle of the 80\u27s, when the move towards the end of Cold War started. Human rights, once a concept symbolized diplomatic disputes were then started to be recognized by many governments by ratification of international human rights conventions and by establishment of national human rights institutions, which are independent from the government to take actions towards human rights violations. However, such institutions are often established as a token sign to appeal government\u27s acceptance of international standards, so that they are not always well implemented at the community level. Considering such conditions, the research was conducted to know how such institution was functioning at the community level, as well as to find out the problems in conducting community-based human rights protection activities. Focus was given on Barangay Human Rights Action Centers of the Philippine Commission on Human Rights, which had been established in the smallest local government units (Barangays) in order to receive human rights violations in the communities. Through the focus group discussion of the officers in charge of the centers, the difficulty of maintaining "independence" from the local administration was found to be the most crucial problem for the activities of such centers
