CHR needs more funds to expand their investigations: Gascon

September 21, 2017

The Commission on Human Rights said it needs more funds to expand their investigations as reminded by the House Committee on Appropriations. In an interview Thursday night at the unveiling of the Jose Diokno monument at the CHR, Chairman Chito Gascon said: "We want to make CHR more relevant and able to address all question raised about its mandate but to do so will require several srteps which include perhaps reviewing our charter and increasing our budget if the expectation of the Congress is to do what they want us to do." Davao Rep. Karlo Nograles, chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations, on Wednesday agreed to restore the budget of the CHR from P1,000 to P678 million for 2018. Gascon said it will be "difficult" for the commission to investigate non state authorities since it has a police function. "As I told the two congressmen ( Nograles and House Majority Leader Rudy Farinas), what they want us to do would essentially be for CHR to do police function but we do not have the same kind of budget that the police are currently enjoying," said Gascon. Gascon said he met Farinas and Nograles for around 45 minutes in which they discussed the commission's mandate and the things that he should do. He said Cebu Rep. Raul del Mar helped in talking to Nograles about the budget issue until it went to House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez. Gascon said the decision to restore the budget of the commission is due to the public's support and their firm stand to perform their function based on their constitutional mandate. Some House leaders suggested that Gascon resign so the budget request of the CHR would be restored. "We said we will not resign. We said we will perform our function in accordance with the constitutional mandate and the public supported us and put a lot of pressure," said Gascon. "I think all of that led to this change of mood on the part of Congress," added Gascon. Gascon said the proposed budget will have to go through the Senate and must then must be approved by President Rodrigo Duterte. "We hope the president will be able to see the value and virtue, the necessity (of the commission)," said Gascon. Alanna Ambi/DMS