Lawmakers 'frustrated' by non-performance of agency

  MANILA – The House of Representatives last night voted to give the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) a token budget of 1,000 pesos (US$19.65) for next year out of frustration over the agency's performance. With a measly outlay, the CHR – a constutionally-created body - is rendered useless. During plenary debates on the proposed 3.767-trillion-peso (US$75 billion) budget for next year, 119 legislators voted to give the CHR a 1,000-budget for next year while 32 others voted against it. Aside from the CHR, the House also alloted the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) and the National Commission for Indigenous People (NCIP) a 1,000-peso budget for 2018. The ERC was criticized for corruption controversies that had wracked the agency while the NCIP was slammed for failing to protect ethnic leaders. The 2018 budget of the country represents a 12.4 increase from the 3.35 trillion-peso budget this year. President Rodrigo Duterte submitted the 2018 outlay to Congress after delivering the State of the Nation Address (SONA) in July. The Lower House had to vote thrice on the budget for the CHR before a final ruling was made – twice via viva voce or voice and the last by each legislator standing to indicate a vote. There was no breakdown of the voice votes prompting those who voted against giving the CHR a 1,000-peso budget to challenge the ruling that the aye votes had it. House Majority Leader Rodolfo Farinas thus moved that legislators stand up to register his or her vote. Legislators who voted against giving the CHR a measly 1,000-peso budget said the agency would become inutile and in effect, abolishes the commission. Congress does not have the power to create or abolish a government agency. The budget department had proposed a 678-million-peso budget for the CHR for next year, which is much lower than its current 749-million-peso outlay but House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez said the CHR should not be given a multimillion-peso budget because it is not doing its job. Budget adjustments are by the thousands so 1,000 pesos is the lowest outlay an agency can get, according to CNN Philippines. Alvarez criticized the CHR for upholding the rights of criminals, especially those who have died in the war on drugs. He pointed out that the CHR's Constitutional mandate is to protect the rights of everyone. The CHR had been critical of extrajudicial killings of drug suspects that has marked the war on drugs launched by the Duterte administration beginning July last year. "If they want to protect criminal rights, they should get their budget from criminals... What is their mandate of the Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines? Protect everyone's human rights, not just watch over the police and government for abuses," Alvarez told CNN Philippines' The Source program. CHR chairman Chito Gascon said they will continue to do their job despite the budget given them for next year. "We are saddened by this whimsical and capricious display of vindictiveness. We were heartened by the courage and commitment manifested by many members of the House who stood their ground to defy the tyranny of numbers shamelessly exhibited tonight," Gascon said in a statement. Gascon also said he will not resign. This after CHR Commission Gwen Pimentel said Alvarez revealed that the budget for the commission would probably be increased or given if Gascon steps down. "To threaten it with the reduction of the budget on the pretext of asking me to resign would lead to essentially be making the institution forever at the mercy of politics," Gascon said. Meanwhile, the Senate will also deliberate on the proposed national budget and come up with its decision on the budgets of the CHR, ERC and NCIP. The senators will act on the budget approved by the House of Representatives and differences will be reconciled in a bicameral meeting. The final budget will be endorsed to Congress as a whole for ratification before it is submitted to President Duterte for signature. 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