The recent proposal to drastically cut public funds allocated to the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) has put the spotlight on other government agencies that are of dubious value to the Filipino people. It has long been recognised that Filipinos suffer from a government that is big, fat, complex, and slow and could greatly benefit from one that is lean, nimble, and simple. A bloated government is fertile environment for corruption. Reduce complexity and there will be less opportunities for bureaucrats to intervene (with open palms and open drawers underneath desks) in processes and transactions.
The CHR, for now, sticks out as a textbook case of a solution implemented to cure a mere symptom rather than a root cause. Abuse of “human rights” is often made out to be a root cause of the Philippines’ national problems. But, really, it is a mere symptom of a more systemic problem — an inefficient criminal justice system. When the wheels of justice turn slowly, people tend to take shortcuts. Police officers would often rather kill crooks than put them through the system. Private citizens would rather hire assassins than call the police. Marginalised communities would rather seek protection from bandits than file criminal charges against their oppressors.
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The CHR was created not to address those systemic problems but to implement mere workarounds — an alternative path to an existing procedure. Indeed, the CHR is essentially a tootheless organisation and still ultimately relies on the criminal justice system to get things done and resolved. It is an additional step to the process and does not, in any way, add to the speed with which justice is delivered. Worse, by its very nature, it throws a blanket presumption of guilt upon state forces and paints them as singular sources of “human rights abuse”. Indeed, its standard response to the avalanche of criticism it now cops from a cynical public, “If a civilian commits a crime, call the cops but if the cops commit a crime, call us”, illustrates the whole problem with the CHR. The CHR, in principle, defines “human rights abuse” as necessarily perpetrated only by the police and military.
“Human rights” violated by civilians? That’s a police matter, according to the CHR.
If we go by the non-political definition of “human rights”, we find that it is a concept applicable to all people — both in and out of uniform, whether armed or unarmed. Going by that definition, if one steps back and looks at the numbers, we will find that the proportion of “human rights” abuse cases handled by the police utterly dwarfs that handled by the CHR. The difference is that the police don’t put political labels on crime. To them there is no “human rights abuse”, only a crime committed. Kidnapping and murder are crimes against “human rights”. Being deprived of one’s property is a violation of one’s “human rights”. Being assaulted and harassed are “human rights” abuses. To be deprived of privacy is a violation of one’s “human rights”. There really is no point in a “Commission on Human Rights” because the police investigate all cases of human rights abuse without prejudice.
In short, the Philippines, as a state, is currently wholly-constituted as an anti-“human rights abuse” state. The CHR, as such, is a redundant oxymoronic entity and a waste of space. All they do is get in the way of duly-mandated state forces such as the police and the army delivering their services.
Small surprise, then, that the CHR has been perversely politicised beyond recognition. A useless organisation and its leaders constantly suffer from a chronic crisis of relevance. The insecurity that comes with crises of relevance predisposes people to latch on to sponsors and patrons. This is what the CHR is today — an inescure organisation latched on like a barnacle to people or parties it perceives to be sources of power and validation. It is time to end their ridiculous existence.
benign0 is the Webmaster of GetRealPhilippines.com.
May be a solution is to impeach Gascon and replace him with PAO Chief Rueda Acosta to save CHR, a constitutition body that can only be abolished in a amendment to the Constitutition needing a referendum.
Some senators say that the budget of the CHR should be restored, because, no matter how people feel about the CHR’s current leadership, the agency is mandated by the Constitution to exist.
This is a flawed, overly simplistic argument. While it is true that the current law of the land decrees that the CHR should exist, the agency has failed to perform its functions PRECISELY BECAUSE it is headed by a brazen partisan like Chito Gascon. Gascon has been using the agency almost exclusively to advance the propaganda aims of the Liberal Party.
The P1,000 budget given by the House of Representatives to the CHR is not about abolishing the CHR per se, but about HOLDING GASCON ACCOUNTABLE.
Surely our senators are not so blind as to not see what Gascon has been doing. The man has been sending distorted data to international bodies to drum up support for foreign intervention to topple the Duterte government. The man has turned the CHR into a Liberal Party attack dog, dead set on discrediting the PNP and the AFP. When the Marawi crisis was just a few days old, Gascon’s CHR was already all over the media complaining about human rights abuses of the military, as if the military was the enemy and not the Maute/ISIS fighters. Gascon even used the CHR’s budget to fly in a foreign meddler, Agnes Callamard, so she can attack the Philippine government on our very own soil.
The government would be out of its mind if it gave another P600+ million budget for Gascon to keep doing what he’s been doing. Gascon needs to go. If he won’t leave voluntarily, then he should be immobilized. The P1,000 budget is one way to do this.
The House of Representatives has already taken the first important step to holding Gascon accountable. I hope our senators will do the same. Don’t be naive. If you’re saying you want to be faithful to the Constitution, then do what is necessary to make sure people like Gascon are immobilized so they can no longer misuse the resources of the CHR for their own political ends.
Know this: For as long as Gascon is in the CHR, the CHR will have no credibility. If it has no credibility, it might as well not exist.
We have to abolish the Commission of Human Rights, as soon as possible. Take away its funding, and spend the money in the improvement of our infrastructures .
The CHR is used as a political tool , to further the political agendas of self serving politicians.
It has not investigated , massacres, murders and killings, if it involved the Aquino Cojuangco political axis. It does “Selective Investigations”, and we , the taxpayers are paying them …
The faster we remove these Parasites, the better for us all !
justice league: Agnes Callamard works for the UN. The Philippines is a member of the UN. If the country doesn’t like “meddling” from the UN, they can leave the organisation.That’s the advice that Filipinos usually give to “meddlers” who comment on the state of the country, isn’t it?
Make sure to close the door on the way out. I’m sure your valuable contribution to international diplomacy, co-operation and development will be sadly missed.
I have no idea what the previous budget for the CHR was, but if that budget was wasted then I can understand the new budget. However, if corruption takes place there or mis-management of the budget then the pawns should be removed first. I really dont understand why Duterte didnt start with cleaning up its/his own house first (the government apparatus) and replace those people with people who are doing an excellent job? He can kill all drug users and dealers but as long as corruption is there to stay, I really dont understand Duterte’s priorities. And if he wantsa to really end the total; drug scene in PH, he should have started with taking down the supply chain first.
the CHR will be funded by the yellowtards 5 per cent from their income. that’s not bad. sounds like the octopus is losing its tentacles one by one.
Members of the United Nations, like those Arab countries, as : Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, UAE, etc…do not observe “Human Rights”.
Just ask any Filipino OFW, who had worked there .. . They will give you terrible stories, of violations of “human rights”. U.N. , Agnes Callamard, is nothing, but a paid running dog of the Aquino Cojuangco political axis. a “Human Rights Bogeywoman”
Just to give anybody how Saudi Arabia violate “human rights”. Women cannot drive cars. They cannot go out without wearing hijab or burqa. Wives are properties of their husbands.
Prisoners are hanged by their legs, every Friday, and the sole of their feet are whipped by Prison Guards, until they bleed. Public execution, by beheading, is how they execute condemned prisoners. Filipino OFWs have no rights, because they are mostly Christians. No Freedom of religion in that country. No Freedom of Speech. No Freedom of the Press…
So, don’t give me that U.N. crap. The U.N. is a toothless organization, that cannot enforce human rights, to strong countries like: Russia, China, Saudi Arabia, other Arab countries,, etc…
You may also want to read this one:
Don’t Tell Me That Policemen Who Abuse Their Authority Aren’t Criminals?!
I wrote this one to counter the disinformation of people who are claiming to fight it.
Hyden: all that is quite true. And everyone points and laughs at the Arabs for being backward and uncivilized.
I agree that the UN is toothless (and often causes more problems than it solves). But here’s the thing: Callamard is smarter than about 99.9% of Filipinos. She’s seen a few things. She knows a few things.
She might not be right all the time, but she knows more than you do about (say) drug wars. That was the topic of her meeting in the Philippines: drug wars. She was warning you that they ALWAYS fail. Always. No exceptions. So when someone who has researched drug wars – a lot – comes to tell you that drug wars don’t work, it’s best to listen, and if you think Filipinos can avoid the usual outcome of a ‘drug war’, you’d better have a good explanation. “Bu we’re Filipinos” is not an explanation.
Telling someone like that they’re they’re stupid and meddling and don’t know what they’re talking about just results in one thing: people will point at you and laugh.
@Marius: She said Drugs doesn’t affect people, that makes her more clueless, “War on Drugs” may not end narcotics in a country yes but it will still prevent from becoming widespread just like how crime as a whole and even terrorism or diseases will never end but that doesn’t mean we should just sit or stand and let it spread throughout the country and even worldwide, it’s like you’re saying that having a police or doctors is totally pointless.
Ronald:Your argument amounts to “something must be done; a war on drugs is something; therefore we’re doing something”.
The speech is available on YouTube. You can watch it. What she actually said was that simply chasing down drug addicts and/or dealers doesn’t work if you don’t address the underlying problems. You need to treat the problem for what it is: a social issue with many different aspects.
In short, Callamard was suggesting that there is a right way and wrong way to deal with drug problems. Filipinos, as they do with practically everything, are choosing the wrong way and assuming it work because “they have faith in the President”, or because “God is on our side”.
The funny part is that the authorities DID listen. The strategy has been evolving somewhat. I know a couple of people who are directly involved with the “drug war”, and they’re intelligent guys who have a much more nuanced view of the subject that the general public.
So why do Filipinos insist on a public display of emoting and shouting – which just attracts massive disrespect from the entire world – if they ARE actually listening? Why not just engage with this sort of advice in the spirit it was offered, debate it logically, stick to facts, and throw some ideas around?
The Filipino’s downfall is his (public) insistence that he’s incredibly clever and capable, despite all evidence to the contrary.
@marius:
“Callamard is smarter than 99.9% of the Filipinos…” If Callamard is that smart; why did she not being hired by Mexico, Columbia, other European countries, who have serious illegal Drug problems ?
Do not OVERSELL to us, Agnes Callamard… she is nothing but a Paid Tool of the Aquino Cojuangco political axis. To mislead us in our War on Illegal Drugs…She knows nothing about the Drug problems, that are prevalent in many countries..
“And everyone points and laugh at the Arabs for being backward and uncivilized…”
The “backward and uncivilized Arabs” are the MASTERS of the Filipino OFWs. The Filipino OFWs are servants and manual laborers of these “backward and uncivilized Arabs”…
The “backward and uncivilized Arabs” are one of the riches people in the world, because of oil. They drive : “Mercedes Benze”, “Porche”, “Ferrari”, and other expensive cars…
The “backward and uncivilized Arabs” have expensive lifestyles; that they can even employ Filipino OFW slaves, paid with a few U.S. dollars and worked to their “bare bones”…
I have not seen such stupid YellowTard statement, such as these statements…you are just contributing your ignorance and stupidity to the GRP Website !
Hyden: you not only can’t write properly, you can’t read either.
You were complaining that the Arab states are uncivilized. I agreed with you and pointed out that people criticize Arabs as much as they criticize Filipinos .. for very similar reasons. The difference is this: Arabs don’t care, because they’ve got oil, and everyone wants to buy their oil. Filipinos, on the other hand, have nothing that anybody else wants.
Drug consultants aren’t being hired by Mexico for the exact same reason they’re not hired by the Philippines: the Mexican government has a deliberate policy of creating chaos, so that oligarchs (some of whom are also involved in the drug trade) can make profits.
As for Columbia, I seem to remember their ex-president gave Duterte some advice based on his long experience of what works and what doesn’t. Columbia has made great progress since they stopped their “drug war”. As I recall, Duterte told him to fuck off.
Hyden: here’s the Colombian ex-president’s advice:
President Duterte Is Repeating My Mistakes
But of course, Filipinos are clever. Filipinos know everything. They don’t need the advice. They don’t need to know what happened to other people, because they’re always right, they always succeed, and the Philippines is the best country in the world! Pinoy Pride!
Seriously, Hyden, do Filipinos really not understand why the entire world is laughing at them?
@marius:
Those are your sentences, … that I have taken out of context, from your blog…If I ever, I don’t read or write properly, it is not my fault. Remember stupid fellow. I would not had graduated in schools, if I am that stupid. I even earned a college degree. And, I’m working in the U.S.
Well, you either believe yourself as a smart guy or you are indeed a dumb guy. Your sentences in your blog, are as clear as the noonday sky.
I did not write those sentences. You wrote them !
Ah, the old Filipino standby: “it’s not my fault”.
I know you’re in the US, but I have to assume your “technology” job involves no communication with others. You would not pass your US High School English exam, never mind get a degree: the only reason you have one is that Filipino academic standards are disgracefully low.
After re-reading your post, I think I understand what you’re trying to say: Arabs have lots of money, therefore they’re not backward and uncivilized; their backward and uncivilized behavior towards Filipinos is merely a case of Filipinos being unfairly victimized.
Is that right? If so, I’ll revise my opinion:
“Everyone laughs at the Arabs as backward and uncivilized, except Filipinos, who view them Arabs their natural masters because they have more money”.
@marius:
Idiot…you don’t know me. I was accepted and graduated from a Technical University in the U.S. I passed my Test on English as Foreign Language (TOEFEL) exam, before being accepted in a U.S. University.
You are just a running dog of the Aquino Cojuangco political axis…that is how you earn your living. I blog , to inform my fellow Filipinos.
What you had written on your blogs, needs no revision. Because you are a Stupid and Stinking YellowTard, who does not know, what he is talking about !
Hyden: I won’t ask you for proof of that, but there are only two possible explanations:
– You use the word “university” to mean some local village technical college that will take anyone who pays the fees. There are degree mills in the US same as there are anywhere else.
– You deliberately write incoherently because you’re lazy, and you don’t care what impression you make.
I have absolutely no clue who the “Aquino Cojuangco political axis” even is. People like you – who believe that stupidity, corruption and wrongdoing is limited to just one political party – are the reason this country is in the mess that it is.
And I notice you don’t even live here, so I doubt you really know what’s happening “on the ground”.
How can you say that the PNP is incapable of abuse?
@p0p0y:
And HOW can you say that the criminals are incapable of abuse? Seems you loved police being killed by drug lords and even narcopoliticians themselves.
Take your SHITPOSTING to somewhere else.
That doesn’t do anything to his argument, though. Instead of answering the question, you and your friend catbad here result to ad hominem attacks and insinuations on him. Whether or not you have no valid answer to give or whatever, I will not delve into. But please, if you want to improve this country, how about starting with improving your discourse? Change starts with the person, after all.
Criminals commit crime. We use the term “abuse” in terms of police because we give them power and authority and weapons ostensibly to keep the peace. Are you really gonna come here and claim that police never abuse these privileges? and that you have no problem with a society where the police can kill with impunity? you trust them so completely?
popoy you sick ck get out you piece of gay sht
If someone doesn’t value evidence, what evidence are you going to provide to prove that they should value it? If someone doesn’t value logic, what logical argument could you provide to show the importance of logic?