CHR chief not a paedophile, execs tell Duterte

Manila: The head of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), Jose Luis Chito Gascon, is definitely not a paedophile, and the term cannot be used, even as a metaphor, to describe his zeal in seeking independent investigations into recent cases of teenagers being killed by police, CHR officials said.

CHR Commissioner Gwen Pimentel-Gana and spokesperson Jacqueline de Guia defended Gascon after President Rodrigo Duterte, infuriated with the CHR for investigating alleged extrajudicial killings in his war on drugs, described the agency’s chief on Saturday as a paedophile for his focus on the killings of teenagers Kian Loyd delos Santos, Carl Angelo Arnaiz and possibly Reynaldo de Guzman by Caloocan police last month.

“This Gascon, he has been all about teenagers. You are like a paedophile. Why do you like teenagers so much? Are you? I’m now having doubts. Are you gay or a paedophile?” said Duterte in a speech in Davao City.

“I know that Chito Gascon is not a paedophile, definitely not,” Gana said in a radio interview.

The term paedophile, she stressed, cannot be used as a metaphor, apparently in expectation of the usual Malacaang defence of Duterte’s controversial remarks – that he often cracks jokes, speaks in metaphors and employs sarcasm. — Philippine Daily Inquirer/Asia News Network