Solons think defunding CHR is a win for them, this is where they’re wrong

When the directive to defund the sole governing body sworn to protect human rights comes from high up, we all lose.

This is probably what Pantaleon Alvarez and 119 others failed to understand in their attempt to politicize the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) during a plenary session last September 13. The finality in the voice of House Speaker Alvarez, the third most powerful individual in the land, in his justification of defunding CHR, is more terrifying.

"Wala akong makitang dahilan para sustentohan kayo ng gobyernong ito. Mas gusto niyo pa protektahan ang mga karapatan ng mga kriminal, hindi ang mga biktima," he said.

“Kung ako ang tatanungin ninyo e, zero, 'pag ganyan ang performance. E bakit? Hindi natin ia-abolish kasi constitutional budget e 'di wag mong bigyan ng budget yan. Dahil nga hindi naman fair e. Hindi nila ginagampanan yung trabaho nila para protektahan yung karapatang pantao, para sa lahat ng tao, sa lahat ng Pilipino dito sa ating bansa,” he added.

The problem with his statement is his apparent admission of not knowing what the CHR is mandated to do--investigate complaints of human rights violations, promote the protection of, respect for and the enhancements of the people's human rights including civil and political rights, according to the 1987 Constitution.

If we would follow the logic in which the House Speaker operates, he is irate that the constitutional body is doing its fine job in investigating and protecting the rights of the victims of extrajudicial killings who clearly suffered from lack of due process of law and died without having the chance to defend themselves in court, in the hands of the Philippine National Police for allegedly fighting back. If that is the case, we must realize that the principles of the House Speaker and the 119 others are upside down; they are clearly living in their fantasized world where everything is politics and the right of the people to be represented is secondary to their cause.

It goes without saying that the thought of the Commission receiving a budget of one thousand pesos from the very people who swore an oath to represent their constituents is greatly worrying. It simply amounts to power dumbfounding these politicians in the expense of fooling the poor and further marginalizing them on the other side of the political spectrum.

Let us first recognize why the Human Rights Commission was created to begin with: during the height of Martial Law under Marcos, the State allegedly tolerated military abuses and violation of human rights. The violations included but were not limited to arbitrary arrests, torture, solitary detention, food blockades, massacres and extrajudicial killings among others. The structural imbalances in the society that paved the way for human rights abuses compelled the authors of the Constitution to create an independent Commission that will highlight the primacy of human rights in the country.

Its function also entails the recommendation of effective measures to Congress to promote human rights and to provide compensation to victims of human rights violations or their families.

Realize then, that these lawmakers would not only defund the rights of their constituents, but their own rights as well. The fact that they have made it almost impossible for the Commission to defend everyone’s rights seemed as if they remain carefree about the magnitude of impunity that they perpetrate in the society.

Let us look at the status quo to contextualize and to try to at least understand where the honorable speaker is coming from. According to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), the country now has 4.7 million drug users--with its director General Isidro Lapeña maintaining the figure as “more reflective” of the real situation of the drug problem.

Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella, on the other hand, even boasted that Duterte’s war on drugs engendered voluntary surrenders of more than 1.3 million drug personalities. He added that 96,703 drug personalities were arrested in the first year of the Duterte administration as compared to 77,810 drug personalities arrested in the six years of the Aquino administration.

“Much ground has been gained in the campaign against hard drug traffickers and violators, but the mission is to end the demand, production, distribution and sale of illegal drugs,” he said.

Social news network Rappler reported in April that there were over 7,080 total number of people killed in the war since the president assumed office in July last year. In this figure, 2,555 suspected drug personalities were killed in police operations and 3,603 victims in cases of “deaths under investigation.”

Last year, Reuters reviewed 42 drug-related shooting incidents in Metro manila covered by journalists as well as some cases covered by CHR. In these cases, police officers killed 100 suspects and wounded three--a 97% kill ratio. TIMES even said it is a chilling statistic that “powerfully undermines the official explanation that police open fire in self-defense and far exceeds the ratio of police killings to injuries in other jurisdictions.”

Witnesses in the article recalled that the suspects were unarmed before being killed. Some added that after being killed, a gun would appear in the person’s hand even if the suspects did not own one.

“There was a gun in his hand,” Joemari Rodriguez recalled, whose uncle was shot by officers during an anti drug operation in Navotas City. “I don’t know where he got this.” He said his uncle was a drug user, but did not own a gun and had not fought back.

As of now, there are 7,080 people killed in the president’s war on drugs since July 1, 2016.

If the politicians remain unfazed by the rising death toll, here goes Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano saying the campaign against illegal drugs was “a necessary instrument to preserve and protect the human rights of all Filipinos” before the audience of the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 23.

This prompted Phelim Kine, the Deputy Director of Human Rights Watch, to call him a “denier-in-chief” of the Duterte Administration in a statement he released on the same week.

The blatant lies, denial and bastardization of human rights in the country by the top officials and the outright disregard of the rule of law maintain the nearing possibility of our surrender to authoritarianism.

There are three ways to counter the possibility.

Firstly, we should maintain vigilant and continue to lobby for the call to investigate the human rights abuses committed by some officials. This was vastly uncontested and was suggested by a former human rights commissioner: it could be done by calling your elected district representatives and support the actions of CHR vigorously.

Secondly, let us continue to fight human rights abuses by being informed: check your rights and privileges. Article III, Section 12 of the 1987 Constitution, known as the Bill of Rights, states that any person under investigation for the commission of a crime or offense "shall have the right to be informed of his right to remain silent and to have competent and independent counsel preferably of his own choice."

If you are being arrested you should know these additional rights:

1. Know the reason for your arrest at the time of your arrest via an arrest warrant, which you should ask for

2. Ask for the identity and authority of the arresting officer

3. Be promptly brought before a judge and be "entitled to a trial within a reasonable time" or to be entitled to release subject to guarantees to appear for trial

4. Demand physical examination by an independent and competent doctor of your choice before and after interrogation, as stated in Republic Act 9745 or the Anti-Torture Act

More on this if you go to this link by Rappler and by downloading the pdf file titled: Citizen Primer on Law Enforcement made by PNP on the Web. www.rappler.com/newsbreak/iq/170936-rights-arrested-detained-persons

Lastly, disseminate information about rights and join conversations online. To correct the wrongs in the society is of utmost importance even if less and less people support the conversation. A lot of our citizens need to be informed and social media platforms could be bridges to tap into the moderates in the political dialogue. This is important as more and more people should be led into discovering the purpose of their rights which are short-lived and to help them to better defend themselves when the time arises.

This was demonstrated in Kian De los Santos’ death which sparked public outrage. The collective voice of the people triggered massive movements to call out the officials of the land and help them to at least self-actualize their incompetence.

When the day comes that the the seed of abuses this administration has planted grows, what could happen in our country might not be different from the civil unrest in Colombia because of the people’s outright opposition and defiance of Pablo Escobar.

If the public continues to let these officials get away with their actions, the self-correcting mechanism of society could succumb to a spiral of autocracy where people solve matters through their own hands and government intervention would be too late--we all lose.