Human rights is being violated at an unprecedented pace and scale, the Commission on Human Rights said Saturday as it refused to budge on President Rodrigo Duterte’s threat to abolish the agency amid its investigations on the government’s anti-illegal drug war.
In a statement, the CHR called on all persons of goodwill to “speak out to call for compliance both in spirit and in practice of the due process guaranteed of the Constitution.”
“This we must do even more fervently in circumstances such as we observe today, where fundamental human rights of the people are being violated at an unprecedented pace and scale,” the human rights agency said in a statement
“We have and will always abide by the fundamental precepts enshrined in the Constitution. We shall, at all times, adhere to the rule of law even as we ask all other public officers to also do the same, particularly by respecting the systems of checks and balances and separation of powers, as well as established constitutional reform processes,” it added.
The CHR is constitutionally tasked to investigate alleged human rights violations perpetrated by state actors or the government.
The agency likewise stressed that it will continue to promote the culture of human rights, but asked the administration to conduct its investigations with “free and unfettered ability” including any and all alleged perpetrators whether be state or non-state actors.
“We acknowledge the clarification given by the Administration’s Spokesperson that they were uttered in frustration, but we must stress that the CHR shall continue to perform its constitutional mandate to protect and promote the human rights of all people as a ‘watchdog’ institution that should be able to perform its functions independently without any fear or favor,” it said.
“We shall continue to ask and secure the cooperation and assistance of government bodies and other authorities as it is a collective obligation of the entire State as principal duty-bearer to respect and fulfill all human rights. To this end, we shall continue to be unafraid in speaking truth to power and in demanding an end to impunity by steadfastly asking for justice and accountability,” it added.
On Friday, CHR chairman Jose Luis Martin Gascon shrugged off calls for his resignation and dismissed accusations that he was biased after Malacañang suggested that he be replaced.
Gascon, who was appointed by President Benigno Aquino III to head the CHR in 2015, has a fixed term which ends in 2022.