Shame on you for P1,000 CHR budget, De Lima tells ‘Duterte’s lapdogs’

Senator Leila de Lima on Wednesday excoriated the 119 representatives who voted to slash the Commission on Human Rights’ (CHR) budget to a measly P1,000, calling them “lapdogs” of the Duterte administration.

“To the 119 lapdogs of Duterte who supported the political persecution of CHR as well as the culture of fear and impunity of this government, shame on you,” De Lima said in a statement.

“Hindi isanlibong piso ang halaga ng karapatang pantao ni Kian delos Santos, Carl Arnaiz, at Reynaldo de Guzman. Hindi isanlibong piso ang halaga ng karapatang pantao ng isandaang milyong Pilipino,” she added, referring to the recent killings of teenagers.

De Lima was a chairperson of the CHR before she was appointed Justice secretary, and then elected senator.

The House of Representatives on Tuesday night approved a budget of only P1,000 for the CHR for 2018. The proposed budget for CHR had been P678 million.

“Pathetic. This is despotism at its finest. This is absolute arrogance of megalomaniacs. This is once again a clear proof of Duterte’s power hungry, morally bankrupt and crooked governance,” De Lima said.

Reports quoted CHR Commissioner Gwendolyn Pimentel-Gana as saying that House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez would give a thumbs up to the CHR’s budget if the agency’s chairman, Chito Gascon, resigned from his post.

“Sukdulan na talaga ang kahibangan nitong administrasyong Duterte. Sagad-sagaran na rin ang kapal ng mukha ng mga Kongresistang sunud-sunuran sa kabaliwan ng Malacañang,” De Lima said.

“And Duterte has the gall to put the blame on CHR Gascon on why the CHR budget for 2018 was slashed to a meager 1,000 pesos!” De Lima said.

Duterte earlier said Gascon is to blame for his agency’s P1,000 budget.

"He opens his mouth in the most inappropriate way... Wala akong ano sa kanya. Bigyan kayo ng budget, for all I care kung ano ang gusto ninyong imbestigahan," he added, associating Gascon with the yellows, the color of the Liberal Party.

The majority of senators have said that they will push to restore the CHR's budget. The separate versions of the House of Representatives and the Senate on the General Appropriations Bill (GAB) will still be scrutinized in the bicameral conference committee to reconcile conflicting provisions. — BM, GMA News