INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — Silencing dissenters runs contrary to the Constitution and is an affront to the country’s ideals of freedom and democracy, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) said on Saturday, as it begins its investigation of the reported profiling of a youth activist group.
The CHR, now headed by Chair Richard Palpal-latoc who was appointed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. last year, called on law enforcement agencies to cooperate with its independent probe of the reported surveillance of members of Anakbayan.
Citing the accounts of Anakbayan members they interviewed as part of the investigation, the CHR said the group released a close-circuit television (CCTV) footage wherein a man was seen looking into the window of their office “for about a minute and a half.”
The members eventually found their office “disorganized” and that their office door showed signs of forced entry.
The next day, Anakbayan members also told CHR investigators that there was an “unusual presence of police mobiles near their national office. They also alleged that there were unidentified men tailing them and taking their pictures.