MANILA, Philippines – The embattled Commission on Human Rights (CHR) can expect support and a bigger budget if the winning president is among the nine candidates present during the second debate organized by the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

The presidential bets all agreed on how important CHR is in the fight against abuses and human rights violations – a breath of fresh air after almost six years of threats and harassment coming from President Rodrigo Duterte and his allies in government.

Former defense secretary Norberto Gonzales said it is high time for the national human rights institution to be strengthened to address the situation under Duterte.

“Napakahirap ng kalagayan ng CHR kaya dapat dagdagan ng pondo, dagdagan ng necessary authority para maipatupad ang kanilang katungkulan (CHR is in a hard situation so they should get more funding and be given necessary authority to carry out their mandate),” he said.

Created under the 1987 Philippine Constitution, CHR is mandated to investigate human rights violations committed against sectors in the Philippines that are marginalized and vulnerable, especially those allegedly perpetrated by state agents.

Prosecutorial powers?

The commission is perhaps facing its biggest challenge under Duterte, with whom they had long locked horns since the investigation into the Davao Death Squad in 2009 by then-CHR chairperson and now Senator Leila de Lima. (READ: The day Duterte faced the Commission on Human Rights)

The President has directed tirades and hurled threats against CHR and its late chairperson Chito Gascon over probes into the drug war killings. In 2017, Duterte’s allies in the House of Representatives tried to give the commission a budget of only P1,000 for 2018, only to be blocked after public clamor.

Since then, CHR has continued to face challenges in its drug war probes, including lack of access to important case documents, and has consistently been excluded from the drug war review panel. (READ: In Duterte’s drug war, justice is ‘nearly impossible’)

The poor treatment of CHR will not happen again, if the presidential candidates are to be believed. In fact, for Jose Montemayor Jr., it should be given “quasi-judicial powers” to carry out its duties.

“Ang CHR ay isa sa mga important accountability bodies natin (CHR is one of the most important accountability bodies in the country),” he said.

But for Senator Panfilo Lacson, giving CHR more powers beyond what is stated in the 1987 Philippine Constitution may be difficult to do. What is important now, he said, is to give it a higher budget.

“Tulungan natin sila na magawa nila ang kanilang trabaho, at sang-ayon sa ginagawa ko taon-taon, ino-augment ko ang kanilang budget na mas mabisa ang kanilang pagtugon sa kanilang mandato under the Constitution and the law,” he said.

(Let’s help them do their job and just like what I do every year, augment their budget so they can effectively carry out their mandate under the Constitution and the law.)

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Promoting human rights

Aside from CHR, the concept of human rights itself was severely demonized under the Duterte administration. The President and his allies often equated the promotion of human rights – including the condemnation of extrajudicial killings under the violent war on drugs – to protection of criminals.

On the contrary, human rights is for everyone, helping ordinary people to live freely. For Vice President Leni Robredo, it’s important to constantly push that human rights is for all.

“Napakahalaga ng human rights dahil ito ay inherent at nabubuhay pa lang tayo nakadikit na ‘yon sa atin,” she said. “Ito din ay alienable, walang sino man ang puwedeng magtanggal sa atin ng ating karapatang pantao.”

(Human rights is very important since it is inherent. It is inalienable, no one can take it away from us.)

Labor leader Leody de Guzman, meanwhile, called for the abolition of government bodies that promote violations of human rights, including the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), which has faced criticism over its rampant red-tagging of activists, critics, and the media, among others.

“Hindi puwede ang ginagawa ng kasalukuyang gobyerno na kill, kill, kill ang kanyang mga patakaran hinggil sa mga bumabatikos sa kanya,” he said. “Dapat buwagin ang mga ganyang institusyon na nagpapalaganap o nagiging pundasyon sa paglaganap ng paglabag sa karapatang pantao,” De Guzman added.

(The present government’s “kill, kill, kill” policy against critics should be stopped. We should abolish institutions that perpetrate or which become the foundations of widespread human rights violations.) – Rappler.com