MANILA, Philippines — After he and his allies gave the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) an almost zero budget causing netizens to erupt in anger, Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez on Friday appeared to have softened his position on the constitutionally created agency, saying it could get back its funding if it presents clear programs that would justify the fullfilment of its mandate.
“Iyong pagbagalik ng budget ng CHR, ay magdedepende iyan doon sa ibibigay nila sa amin na programa. Ano ba ang programa ninyo para magampanan ninyo ang tungkulin ninyo base sa Saligang Batas?” said Alvarez during a press conference.
[The restoration of the CHR’s budget depends on the program that they will give to us. What’s your program for you to be able to fulfill your responsibilities based on the Charter?]
“Ngayon, kung makita naman namin na maganda iyong programa eh bakit hindi? Tutal may bicam (bicameral conference meeting) pa naman. Pero kailangan i-justify nila ‘yong kanilang paggagamitan ng pera,” he added.
[Now, if we see that the program is good, why would we not restore the budget. There’s still the bicameral conference meeting. But they need to justify how they would use the money.]
He said the CHR should do its mandate and justify its existence through its programs for human rights.
“Gawin nila ‘yong trabaho nila, gano’n lang naman. Dahil kaya namin ginagawa ‘yan na P1,000 dahil nakita namin hindi nila ginagagawa ‘yong trabaho nila,” said Alvarez.
[They should do their job, that’s how it should be. We reduced their budget to P1,000 because we saw that they were not doing their job.]
“Simple lang, gawin nila ‘yong trabaho nila at i-justify nila kung ano ‘yong programa nila para doon sa mga innocent victims [It’s just simple, they should do their job and and justify their program for the innocent victims],” he said.
From its proposal of P649 million, the CHR was given only P1,000 budget by the House of Representatives when it approved the budget bill on second reading on September 12. The House version will still be harmonized with the version of the Senate, which is still deliberating the proposed appropriations.
‘Kapal ng mukha n’ya’
While showing a tempered position on the CHR budget, the House leader again spewed words against its chairman, Jose Luis Martin “Chito” Gascon.
Gascon, a lawyer who graduated from the University of the Philippines College of Law in 1996, and has a masters in International Law from Cambridge University in London, was a student activist during the Marcos regime.
He was appointed in June 2015 by then President Benigno Aquino after he served the latter’s administration as undersecretary for political affairs and as director-general of Liberal Party from 2008 to 2011.
Asked to comment on Gascon’s stance that he would not resign, Alvarez said.
“Yon na nga ang sinasabi ko, sobrang kapal ng mukha niya. Alam mo, kung sinasabi ng karamihan na hindi niya ginagampanan ‘yong trabaho niya, hindi niya ginagawa, eh dapat mahiya ka na eh,” the Speaker said.
[That’s what I’m saying, he has a very thick face. You know, he should already be ashamed if the majority says that he’s not doing his job.]
“Hindi mo na ginagawa ‘yong trabaho mo huminihingi ka pa ng sweldo sa gobyerno. Hindi naman yata tama iyon [You’re not doing your job but you continue to ask for your salary from the government. That’s no longer right.]”
Alvarez said Gascon should not choose to protect the rights only of his political allies and ignore the other victims of human rights violations.
“Inaalagaan ‘yong mga ano, ‘yong mga karapatang pantao ng mga siguro mga kakampi niya sa politika. Malinaw na malinaw naman iyan,” he said.
“Gusto ninyo ng concrete example na namumulitika? Eto ha: dadalaw sa kulungan, dinalaw si Sen. De Lima. Tinanong ko sino pang dinalaw mo doon. Wala na daw kasi wala na siyang oras,” said Alvarez.
[You want a concrete example that he is politicking? This is it: he went to prison, he visited Sen. De Lima. I asked him who else did he visit there. He said no other persons because he didn’t have the time.]
“Alam mo, kung dadalaw ka sa mga nabilanggo doon ang lapit-lapit naman no’ng selda ng iba. Eh bakit hindi niya dinalaw at inalam ‘yong kalagayan no’ng ibang prisoners?” he added.
[You know, if you pay a visit to detainees there, the cells of other prisoners are very near. Why didn’t you visit the other prisoners and find out their conditions?]
The House leader also lambasted Gascon for allegedly not acting on the cases of the victims of the January 2015 Mamasapano incident, which took the lives of 44 members of the Philippine National Police’s Special Action Force.
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