Enemy within

Who complained when the House of Representatives, in a vote of 119-82, slashed the budget of the Commission on Human Rights to P1,000 in 2018? They are the same characters in the hot pursuit of booting out Rody, such as Communist Party of the Philippines founder Jose Maria Sison, bogus Vice President Leni Robredo, Senators Riza Hontiveros and Leila de Lima and United Nations Special Rapporteur Agnes Callamard.

“ CHR gets public money to advance the interest of foreign detractors of Rody. Where is fairness in that?

A recounting from Sen. Richard Gordon, chairman of the Senate Blue Ribbon panel, said despite the public money spent on the agency, it never cooperated in the release of data primarily related to what is claimed as extrajudicial killings (EJK).

Gordon said EJK allegations that started when Rody was still Davao City Mayor were never proven despite De Lima being the CHR head during the term of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, then Secretary of Justice under yellow President Noynoy Aquino and now as detained senator.

Witnesses were obviously stooges of Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV at the Senate investigations instead of hard data.

The same way, the CHR relied on allegations of foreign rights groups which, in turn, were also fed by the usual critics of Rody.

On the Dengvaxia scandal, which is relevant now with the rising cases of dengue, the CHR warned public officials against politicizing the inquiry into the government’s anti-dengue vaccination program, instead of looking into the possible violations of rights of those inoculated through the racket of the Aquino officials.

The CHR said public officials should refrain from causing “further public anxiety with premature statements about anti-dengue vaccine Dengvaxia that are not backed by scientific evidence.”

“It is to the best interest of the children and their families that this issue be insulated from political noise that distracts from providing genuine and durable solution to the problem at hand,” the statement read.

The statement came as odd since it would have been more appropriately issued by the Department of Health (DoH), but at that time main yellow personalities being accused of irregularities in the government contract with French pharmaceutical firm Sanofi Pasteur such as Noynoy and his Cabinet members, mainly former Health Secretary Janet Garin, were under assault and badly needed help.

No such CHR statements appealing for non-politization were issued in relation to the war on drugs using wrong figures being generated by the opponents of Rody.

The CHR said in its statement the Dengvaxia issue deserves the government’s utmost attention given that the future of the nation depends on the children’s welfare, which only obfuscate the current efforts to seek accountability on what is turning out to be a high-level fraud that risked the lives of 800,000 Filipinos mostly children.

“Executives of the DoH during the Aquino administration are now subject of an investigation in connection with the immunization of children with anti-dengue vaccine Dengvaxia. While DoH is presumed to have the sincerest intentions in fulfilling its mandate to protect the people through a policy that seeks to prevent all kinds of illnesses and diseases including dengue, there has been lapses in the implementation,” it added.

The CHR also frequently advances an assessment about the presumption of regularity on Noynoy instead of initiating a probe on the issues that hound the former President, including his involvement in the Mamasapano debacle.

Senate hearings on the Dengvaxia scandal indicated the P3.5 billion contract for the mass immunization vaccine was rushed during the last few months of the Aquino administration and months prior to the May 2016 presidential elections.

Rody also lashed out at the rights agency after demanding a probe on allegations of abuses in the military operations to retake Marawi City from Islamic State (IS) sympathizers.

While admitting that it has not recorded any rights violations since Mindanao was placed under martial law in 23 May last year, it said it wanted to look into allegations of military abuses.

Rody said he would not allow security personnel to be investigated and would rather have CHR abolished.

Rody said he was the one who implemented martial law and is taking full responsibility for all military actions.

“When the time comes, the CHR, its office here, you are better abolished. I will not allow my men to go there to be investigated. Remember this, Human Rights Commission, you address your request through me because the Armed Forces is under me and the police is under me.

So, if you question them for investigation, you have to go to me first,” Rody said.

The CHR gets public money to advance the interest of foreign detractors of Rody. Where is fairness in that?