Duterte-Gascon reconciliation still possible —solon

A lawmaker on Sunday said that President Rodrigo Duterte and Commission on Human Rights' Chito Gascon should sit down and talk in order to reconcile their issues.

In an interview on radio dzBB, Siquijor Representative Ramon "Rav" Rocamora said that there is still a chance for reconciliation despite Duterte's name-calling and tongue-lashing Gascon.

"Yes, I think there's always a chance for reconciliation, you just need to have an open mind. There's nothing impossible under the sun for as along as [both] parties are willing to reconcile," Rocamora said.

"There's no better way of resolving issues than just to sit down and talk about it and look at where the problem is. But you need to have an open mind, open heart, and sincerity to resolve the problem," he added.

Rocamora, who is a member of the ruling PDP-Laban, also expressed disappointment over Duterte's "pedophile" remark against Gascon.

"It's sad that it has come to that, I wished he didn't have to say that actually," he said.

Duterte on Saturday asked Gascon if he was a pedophile for supposedly being "fixated" on young boys.

"Why is this guy so pre-suffocated with the issue of the young people, especially boys? Are you a pedophile? Mahilig ka sa mga bata?" Duterte said in a speech after meeting with a policeman held captive by the New People's Army in Davao City.

"Halos na lang mag-iyak ka ng dugo. Of course it's repugnant... Pero teenager ka na nang teenager. Hala, araw-araw," he added. "You are so fixated with the death of young males, kaya nagdududa ako na pedophile kang gago ka."

Meanwhile, Gascon, who was in Korea for a human rights conference, said that the president's insinuations that he was child molester  because the CHR was alarmed over the rising number of teenager-killings was "unfortunate."

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

He hoped that Duterte would 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.

On Friday, the CHR said it was "deeply disturbed" by the rise in youth killings, citing the deaths of Kian delos Santos, 17; Carl Angelo Arnaiz, 19; Reynaldo "Kulot" de Guzman, 14; Raymart Siapo, 19; and Grace Omadlao, 16.

Earlier, the House of Representatives granted the CHR  a measly budget of P1,000 for 2018, a move heavily criticized by civil society groups and human rights advocates. —LBG, GMA News