President Rodrigo Duterte is considering abolishing the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) that has been critical of his administration’s war on drugs.
The president, told reporters on Monday he will not allow any soldier or policeman accused of wrongdoing to appear in any investigation without his permission.
“And when the time comes, the CHR is better abolished,” Duterte said.
“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,” he added. That’s why if you have to question them, you will have to go through me.”
The CHR, created under the 1987 Constitution, was tasked to investigate all forms of human rights violations involving civil and political rights.
The commission earned the ire of Duterte after it investigated alleged police abuses under his administration’s war on illegal drugs.
The president also told the Office of the Ombudsman to refrain from citing in contempt government officials because he had “the authority to give the final say whether they will attend or not.”
“So don’t force me to lock horns with you,” he said.
Duterte acknowledged that the “Ombudsman was there to check on the government.”
He, however, urged the anti-graft body to be fair to all sides “so that you can get the truth and the whole story.”
“If you fail to address the atrocities of the other side… then do not investigate my army and police,” the president said.
“Do not make it a one-sided affair. I will not allow it. What is sauce for the gander is sauce for the goose. If you have not as yet investigated the deaths of my police and military men, then do not mess with us,” he added.
Police records showed that 3,200 drug users have been killed in anti-drug operations from July 1, 2016 to June 20, 2017.




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