CHR chair says Duterte's pedophile remark hurtful, unfortunate

Commission on Human Rights (CHR) Chairperson Chito Gascon on Saturday said President Rodrigo Duterte's pedophile remark against him was "hurtful" and "unfortunate."

"That the President again has resorted to name-calling and to using hurtful language against me is unfortunate," Gascon, who was in Korea to attend a human rights conference, said in a text message to GMA News Online.

He said he is hoping Duterte will refrain from hurling criticisms against him "in order to have a common civic space."

"There may be differences between the positions we take in CHR and that taken by the Executive Branch, we hope this be viewed as part of the checks and balance system of Philippine Democracy," Gascon said.

In a speech in Davao City, Duterte asked if Gascon was a "pedophile" because of his "fixation" on the teenage victims of killings.

Duterte also said that Gascon is a spokesman for the Liberal Party and the opposition, "who want me out of the Presidency."

Gacon was the former ruling party's vice president for social movements.

He was appointed by then President Benigno Aquino III as CHR chairperson in 2015.

Gascon said that he does not use the rights body in any partisan activity.

"My work and that of the rest of the Commission is focused only on our mandate to monitor state compliance of human rights," he said.

In a statement on Friday, the CHR said it is "deeply disturbed" by the recent killings involving teenagers.

The CHR is asking the Philippine National Police (PNP) to be given case folders of deaths resulting from the government's war on drugs, including those of Kian Loyd delos Santos and Carl Angelo Arnaiz.

The PNP, however, has declined to provide the case folders citing an order from Duterte.

Gascon said he still hopes for a "workable mechanism" with the PNP to "uncover the truth" about the rising number of deaths in the war on drugs and assist in securing justice for all victims and hold all perpetrators of human rights violations to account. —ALG, GMA News