
President Rodrigo Duterte said on Wednesday majority of congressmen might be displeased by the apparent biases of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) in dealing with human rights cases.
This was referring to the decision of the House of Representatives to allot P1,000 budget for the agency.
“He had it coming… ‘Yang 1,000 na ibinigay na ng Congress sa opisina niya, kasi galit ang Congress sa kanya,” Duterte said, referring to CHR Chairperson Chito Gascon.
He even emphasized his disappointment with the private investigation, which the CHR conducted, regarding the administration’s war on drugs.
The President stated that Gascon is only “geared to investigate government abuses and mistakes, shortcomings,” and not the crimes committed by the Maute group which resulted in the deaths of hundreds of soldiers in Marawi.
“Ang gawain mo maghintay sila. They cannot just investigate, wala naman silang procedural power. Bantayan nila ‘yung pulis, tingnan nila. They collate. They collate. Ipunin. Then they make a study and then they file the appropriate recommendation,” he emphasized.
“You know because the human rights will not investigate the Maute or the ISIS. The Human Rights Commission is geared to investigate government abuses and mistakes, shortcomings, whatever,” he added.
The President, however, still hoped that the House will reconsider their decision, noting that CHR is a constitutional body.
“Maybe someday, they might review their decision…I’m not here to destroy institutions,” he said. | (Tina Joyce Laceda – PTV)
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