REP. Raul V. Del Mar (Cebu City North) defended the 2018 budget for the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) during the plenary session last Sept. 6, 2017.
The CHR is a Constitutional office established under Article 13, Sections 17-19 of the 1987 Constitution.
It was created as a State institution, separate and independent from the three branches of government.
The CHR is mandated to perform as watchdog and protector against human rights abuses.
Over the past 30 years of its existence, it has pursued this mandate by undertaking human rights protection, promotion, and policy-advisory functions, he said.
The appropriations that Congress allocates to the CHR covers the cost of operations for the investigators, lawyers, researchers, analysts, information officers and trainers, and other human rights workers, in both central and regional offices, he said.
The CHR is an active member of the Global Alliance of the National Human Rights Institutions (GNHRI) and has consistently secured an “A-Status” accreditation, which has given it access to many United Nations bodies, he said.
Del Mar said that CHR comes up with regular reports and recommendations to the executive and legislative departments to ensure adherence to human rights guarantees provided in the 1987 Constitution.
“It monitors and gives policy advice regarding the State’s compliance with International Obligations under Human Rights Treaties and Norms,” del Mar said in a statement.
“The positions it takes in favor of human rights standards, should not be viewed by the State as being combative to it, but as another checking mechanism established by the framers of the Constitution, to strengthen our enduring system of checks and balances, and separation of powers,” del Mar said.
Thus, del Mar said that when Congress allocates a budget for the CHR as an institution, it does so in order to bolster Philippine democracy by keeping all public officials honest in the performance of their duties, as these relate to the universally accepted principles of human rights. (EOB)