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CHR budget cut boosts Hague case vs Duterte: expert

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Christian V. Esguerra, ABS-CBN News

<figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameBorder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wm53Ojp7mPU" width="560"></iframe></figure>MANILA - A 1,000-peso budget essentially abolishes the Commission on Human Rights and boosts efforts to hold President Rodrigo Duterte accountable before the International Criminal Court (ICC) over widespread drug-related killings under his watch, a law expert said Wednesday.The Hague-based court is looking into the complaint filed earlier this year against Duterte, which sought an end to the &quot;dark, obscene, murderous and evil era in the Philippines.&quot;But the ICC functions under the principle of complementarity, stepping in only if a state is unwilling or unable to prosecute an official for serious crimes.&quot;I think yesterday we moved nearer to that,&quot; lawyer Tony La Viña, former dean of the Ateneo School of Government, told ABS-CBN News, referring to the budget cut.&quot;It&#x27;s really shameful, it&#x27;s very embarrassing what the congressmen did here, to be honest.&quot;The CHR can still have its proposed budget of P650 million approved later in the budget process, he said. <div>ABUSE OF POWER</div>But in the meantime, he said the ICC &quot;is going to assume&quot; the human rights body would be left with P1,000, which would be &quot;tantamount to abolishing it.&quot;La Viña said the budget cut would make the ICC complaint against Duterte &quot;stronger because one of the things that can stop a case is if there&#x27;s a chance that you can hold people accountable in your country with your domestic mechanisms.&quot;&quot;Removing the CHR removed one of those mechanisms,&quot; he said.La Viña said congressmen reduced the agency&#x27;s budget as a &quot;sign of displeasure&quot; with its chairman, Chito Gascon, who had been vocal against the rampant killings under Duterte.&quot;This is about abuse of power. This is about saying I don&#x27;t care. I have the power. We have the power. That&#x27;s what makes it so frustrating,&quot; La Viña said.&quot;The message is very very clear. We don&#x27;t care about human rights. You&#x27;re just an obstacle to the political goals of the administration.&quot;

A 1,000-peso budget essentially abolishes the Commission on Human Rights and boosts efforts to hold President Rodrigo Duterte accountable before the International Criminal Court (ICC) over widespread drug-related killings under his watch, a law expert said Wednesday.

A 1,000-peso budget essentially abolishes the Commission on Human Rights and boosts efforts to hold President Rodrigo Duterte accountable before the International Criminal Court (ICC) over widespread drug-related killings under his watch, a law expert said Wednesday.

CHR budget cut boosts Hague case vs Duterte: expert

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CHR budget cut boosts Hague case vs Duterte: expert

Christian V. Esguerra,

ABS-CBN News

Published Sep 13, 2017 03:23 PM PHT

|

Updated Sep 14, 2017 12:22 AM PHT

Read More:

Commission on Human Rights

International Criminal Court

human rights

national budget

public expenditure

Tony La Viña

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