MANILA – Commission on Human Rights (CHR) chair Jose Luis Martin “Chito” Gascon will not step down from office following Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez’s early remarks that the House of Representatives will restore the commission’s proposed budget only if Gascon resigned.
He said his resignation would defeat the nature of the CHR as an independent constitutional office, one that should be impervious to pressure from any administration. He and his office have repeatedly drawn flak from President Rodrigo Duterte and his allies in and out of Congress since last year over their stance in encouraging independent investigations into alleged extra-judicial killings in connection with the vaunted war on drugs.
“Nahirang po ako 2015 hanggang 2022. Pipilitin ko sa abot ng aking makakaya na gampanan ko ang tungkulin ko sa loob ng period na ‘yon. At lalo na hindi po ako bibitiw kung ang usapin po ay itong nangyari kahapon na tatanggalan kami ng budget unless bumitiw ako,” he said in a radio interview on Wednesday.
[I was appointed from 2015 to 2022. I will strive to perform my duties within that period. And I will not quit despite what happened yesterday with the discussion that our budget will be removed unless I quit.]
“Ang problema po sa ganyan, ang aming posisyon bilang constitutional office, bilang independiyente sa administrasyon, ay mawawala [The problem with allowing this is that our position as a constitution office, as independent from the current administration will be lost],” he added.
Gascon added that should he resign, his successor would also be faced with the same pressure from this administration.
The House of Representatives, voting 119-32, on Tuesday slashed the budget of the CHR to P1,000 in the proposed 2018 appropriations.
CHR Commissioner Gwendolyn Pimentel-Gana later revealed on Tuesday that Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez earlier told her during the budget deliberations that the lower chamber would bring back CHR’s proposed P678-million budget if Gascon resigned.
“He did mention that if the chair would step down, then probably the budget would be increased or given to the CHR,” she told reporters.
Duterte: Gascon is ‘yellow’
Meanwhile, President Rodrigo Duterte blamed Gascon for earning the ire of House members, hence the slashed budget, and described the CHR chairperson as “pro-dilawan,’ the political color of the Liberal Party.
Gascon, however, denied siding with the ‘dilawan,’ saying that he was only doing his duty as mandated.
“May pananaw siguro ang pamahalaan na kasalukuluyan na ang administrasyong Duterte na ako’y dilawan at dahil po d’yan ‘yung mga posisyon at pahayag po binibigyan o kinukulayan ng politika pero hindi po gano’n eh,” he said.
[There seems to be a perception with the Duterte administration that I’m dilawan and because of this, the position and statements we released are being tainted with politics. But that is not the case.]
“Sineseryoso ko po ito na walang kinikilingan. Basta merong human rights violation, sino pa man po ang gumagawa n’yan dapat po nating itukoy at i-call out [I’m serious with my impartiality. Whoever commits human rights violations should be identified and called out],” he added.
He also said the CHR trusts the Senate would give them the sufficient resources to fulfill their mandate.
“Tiwala kami sa buong Senado [We trust the whole Senate],” he said.
Several senators had already vowed to restore the budget of CHR.
The Senate Finance Committee on Monday had approved the proposed budget of the CHR, amounting to P678 million, a move that drew widespread concern, including from human rights advocates abroad.
Some of the few congressmen who voted against cutting the CHR budget had warned that it was tantamount to trifling with the Constitution, which created CHR as one of the constitutional agencies; thus, a P1,000 budget effectively renders it useless.
