Netizens howl: #CHRBudgetCheaper than monthly budget for jeepney or lunch

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Interaksyon
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September 12, 2017 - 9:27 PM
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CHR livestream UN meeting
Officials, rights advocates and journalists watch the livestream of the Geneva UPR session at the Quezon City office of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) in this May 2017 file photo. BERNARD TESTA, INTERAKSYON.COM

In case anyone needs reminding of just how small an amount P1,000 is – the same amount the House of Representatives on Tuesday endorsed as 2018 budget for the Commission on Human Rights – Twitter users Carl Javier and Jonathan de Santos started the thread #CHRbudgetcheaper to starkly illustrate how ridiculously underfunded the CHR will be.

Chances are the CHR will use up P1,000 for a month’s worth of printer ink, OR a month’s worth of paper. It will certainly not fund both paper AND ink.

How did your congressional representative vote on the P1,000 budget endorsed by the House of Representatives for the CHR? Click here to see.

P1,000 is a little less than the average worker’s jeepney fare for a full month. It will barely fill up a gas tank for a day. Not counting weekends, the CHR budget for the whole of 2018 is basically equivalent to an office worker’s daily weekday lunch – if said worker keeps to a budget of P50/meal.

“Mas malaki pa budget namin para sa pansit (Our budget for pansit is bigger),” de Santos commented.

To which Javier replied:

As for groceries, well, @mlordono had this list.

And as ride-hailing app users know, the CHR’s would-be budget is just as much or even cheaper than a ride during a traffic jam, as @thysz and @cbrodit pointed out.

Beauty buffs like @nagiisangbibe won’t get their fix either, if they only had CHR’s budget.

Travelers can also relate to @amicahantonioo’s observation.

CHR’s budget – if the Lower House has its way – doesn’t even come close to @2k0n3’s EverWing score.

It’s also less than the cost of a drinking spree, @shaerie_nich pointed out.

It wouldn’t even cover @stormberry’s utilities.

iPhones and Nokia 3310s are definitely much more expensive than the CHR’s budget, @ceowin and @missmansanas added.

@IELumapas also showed how much smaller it is than the amount it takes to replace a flagpole in Luneta Park.

But it wasn’t just the CHR whose budget got cut drastically. The House of Representatives set aside P1,000 each for the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) and the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), too.

These amounts aren’t final, however. The 2018 budget bill will still go to a bicameral committee to be joined in by members of the Senate.

Got anything to add to the #CHRBudgetCheaper thread? Tell us in the comments section.

Interaksyon

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