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Netizens want to raise funds for CHR budget


The vote of House of Representatives giving the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) a mere P1,000 budget drew the ire of netizens who even proposed to raise funds for the body themselves.

In his Facebook account, comedian and director Rodolfo "Jun" Sabayton asked who wants to contribute P1,000 for the CHR.

Director Jerrold Tarog also poked fun at the decision, saying: "Sino pwede magset-up ng GoFundMe page para sa karapatang pantao nating lahat?"

The House of Representatives, voting 119 to 32, approved the motion of 1-SAGIP party-list Representative Rodante Marcoleta's motion to reduce CHR's budget for 2018 from P678 million to P1,000.

During his interpellation, Marcoleta argued that the CHR should have been investigating all human rights violations, regardless of which group an individual belongs to.

"You are supposed to investigate all human rights violations irrespective of any group, any location whether they are soldiers, policemen, NPA, members of the Maute group," Marcoleta said.

"There shouldn't be a selective application. You can condemn but that is not the function of the CHR,"  he added.

CHR chairman Chito Gascon called the decision of the House as a "display of vindictiveness."

Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez had earlier vowed to give the CHR a P1,000 budget for 2018 while accusing it of only protecting criminals and failing to fulfill its constitutional mandate of protecting the rights of all Filipinos.

President Rodrigo Duterte had earlier threatened to abolish the CHR as he continued to defend the police and soldiers amid allegations of human rights violations.

Duterte, meanwhile, had denied that he had a hand on the House's decision to cut the CHR's budget to P1,000.

The Senate has yet to approve a counterpart bill on the proposed 2018 national budget. —Marlly Rome Bondoc/ALG, GMA News

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