Commission on Human Rights Chief Prompts Duterte To Back Off

CHR chair Jose Luis Martin Gascon said President-elect Rodrigo Duterte can ignore him but not the constitution.

CHR (Commission on Human Rights) chair Jose Luis Martin Gascon prompts the President-elect Rodrigo Duterte to back off and uphold the constitution. The chief CHR tells Duterte, “Feel free to ignore me but not the Constitution”.

The chief said he will continue to call out the government to protect human rights from any of abuse of power as stipulated under the 1987 Constitution.

Gascon has been vocal on his thoughts to the issue, “While President Duterte may personally choose to ignore what I may have to say in the exercise of my mandate… I should hope—as the entire country would as well—that he would faithfully and always abide by the Constitution in the performance of his duties as President,” he said.

He added that they are prepared to engage to work in assuring the fulfillment of the human rights of all people. “As a constitutional office that is mandated to monitor government’s compliance with human rights obligations, the CHR is aware that each administration presents both opportunities and threats with respect to compliance with these established standards,” he said.

He said every new government “represents possibilities for advancing human rights even as there could also be real risks that could undermine the same.”

He emphasized that the Human rights obligation are part and parcel of both the Constitution and the laws of the land. The CHR has remain to be firm in upholding the rights of the people, especially upholding the due process of law.