INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) has defended its newly-appointed officials from criticisms and questions on their track record, assuring the public that they are committed to upholding human rights and the institution’s independence.
In a statement on Monday, CHR said that even if the commissioners and the chairperson were presidential appointees, they could uphold independence from political factors.
Furthermore, CHR said that appointing people from different backgrounds follows the principle of plurality or hearing the voices and views of different sectors.
“We wish to assure that, while the President appointed its recent composition as mandated by the Philippine Constitution, the Commission en banc is committed to preserve and uphold the independence of the country’s national human rights institution (NHRI),” CHR said.
“The present members of the Commission en banc also satisfies the criteria of pluralism, one of the standards under the Paris Principles that NHRIs should meet in order to be effective and efficient in their mandate,” it added.
The Commission further stated that it had been just four months since the new officials of the CHR were appointed. Last September, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. named former assistant Quezon City prosecutor Richard Paat Palpal-latoc as the CHR Chairperson, while former Office of the Ombudsman prosecutor Beda Epres was tapped as a member of the en banc committee.
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Then last December 28, Marcos signed the appointment papers of former procurement official Faydah Dumarpa, who will now sit as a CHR commissioner.
“To note, it has only been almost four months since the first appointments of the new Commission en banc members were made yet work continues and new directions are already being set,” CHR said.
“In the past months, CHR under its new leadership has similarly shown readiness to respond to the continuing and emerging human rights concerns in the country. Demand for accountability through investigations of human rights violations are continuing. Lobbying for laws that seeks to uphold human rights persists. Efforts to conduct human rights education and promotion proceed, even in search of new ways to teach and reach different publics,” it added.
CHR did not mention where the criticisms came from, but Human Rights Watch deputy director for Asia Phil Robertson recently called out the Philippine government for appointing commissioners with no human rights backgrounds.
Robertson also underscored that several seats are still vacant — which supposedly shows a lack of seriousness from the government.
“We have one chairperson and one commissioner, and the rest of the seats are all still vacant, and the people who have been appointed so far, don’t really have as much as we could see, a track record on human rights,” Robertson said.
“We hope that they will do a good job but we haven’t seen anything yet,” he added.
But CHR stressed that the appointment of lawyers into the commission makes sense, especially those with investigative backgrounds.
“Chair Richard P. Palpal-latoc joined the CHR with his robust legal career practice and background. He is a trial lawyer, once served as an Assistant City Prosecutor, and previously Deputy Executive Secretary for Legal Affairs under the Office of the President. Upon his appointment, he signified strong desire to expand and fortify CHR’s work with respect to economic, social, and cultural rights,” CHR noted.
“Commissioner Beda A. Epres, a lawyer, is backed with a strong investigation background and expertise in conducting independent probes for having been previously part of the Office of the Ombudsman,” it added.
But even before Robertson raised concerns about the present roster of CHR’s officials, several activist groups had already called on Palpal-latoc and Epres to maintain independence from the administration.
According to Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) secretary general Renato Reyes, they hope Palpal-latoc in particular, can remain independent despite his “proximity” to Malacañang, as he was closely associated with former executive secretary Vic Rodriguez.