MANILA, Philippines ? With Congress spurning its request for an increase in its budget for 2009, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) is seeking funding from foreign donors and organizations like the European Union.

CHR Chairperson Leila de Lima said the agency has submitted funding proposals to the EU and other international donor agencies and organizations.

But she said any funds that the CHR may receive from foreign donors would most likely cover only the forensic training of its investigators and not the forensic equipment that it needs and which are quite expensive.

De Lima is hoping that the Office of the President will allot a special fund for the commission?s forensic center as it did for the investigation of extrajudicial killings in 2007.

She said Congress gave the CHR a little over P253 million for its 2009 budget, ignoring the commission?s request for a 100 percent increase.

The increase would have covered the establishment of a CHR forensic center that is estimated to cost between P30 and P35 million.

The CHR also requested funds for a new office because it is currently housed in a condemned building.

?We understand, however, the priorities of the government given the current economic crisis,? De Lima said in a statement.

Earlier, De Lima said the investigation and prosecution of extrajudicial killing cases were ?dismally slow? because of the lack of witnesses as well as an ?insufficient forensic capacity?.

She said this was why the CHR had to tap the expertise of private forensic doctors.

The German-based Action Network Human Rights (ANHR) observed as much during a recent weeklong human rights mission in Manila.

?One of the great remaining challenges is to establish strong evidence with regard to grave human rights violations,? the ANHR said in a statement.

Delegate Anna Niklasch said authorities acknowledged that they should not limit themselves to witnesses? testimonies.

But a problem brought up by police officials themselves was the lack of proper forensic measures, she said.

?We learned that very little funds are available for the upgrade of the capacity,? Niklasch said.

An eight-member ANHR delegation came on a human rights mission March 12-18 as a follow-up to a conference on political killings that it organized in Germany in May 2008, described as ?the largest conference on Philippine politics in Germany in many years.? Nikko Dizon