Shed discriminatory image, Nograles tells CHR

Taking a cue from House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, PBA Party-List Rep. Jericho Nograles on Tuesday advised Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to drop its supposed discriminatory stance in pursuing human rights cases.

“Prove the perception wrong and you will win the people’s trust again,” Nograles, son of former House Speaker Prospero Nograles, said in a statement.

“Being the son of a human rights lawyer, I feel really sad that the CHR is now being regarded as protector of criminals and insurgents because of their unusual interest in pursuing only cases allegedly committed by the evildoers,” the solon said.

During the House Appropriations Committee’s deliberation Monday on the CHR’s proposed 1651.9 million for 2018, Speaker Alvarez lashed out at Commissioner Chito Gascon for leading an agency that’s “pro-criminal” and “unfair to victims of heinous crimes.”

Alvarez was so incensed that he even threatened to drastically cut down on their budget because of the CHR’s failure to look into human rights violations perpetrated by criminals and rebel groups.

Nograles said that the CHR must now truly fulfill its mandate as the protector of the people’s civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights.

According to him, the CHR is rapidly losing public support and there is now a growing clamor for its abolition because of its perceived misplaced focus on alleged human rights violations committed by State agents while turning a blind eye on atrocities committed by criminals and insurgents.

Nograles said that right now, the CHR is perceived by the the “defender” of lawless elements and the persecutor of law enforcers.

“The embodiment of true justice is Lady Justice. She is blind-folded precisely because justice knows no color, language, political persuasion and status in life. She delivers justice based on facts and evidence regardless of who you are and what you are.

“The CHR should do the same,” the lawmaker stressed.