The current administration of Pres. Aquino at the Malacañang Palace indirectly expressed its support for the plan of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to investigate Mayor Duterte on alleged reports of human rights violations committed by Davao City Mayor.
According to Herminio Coloma Jr., the head of the Presidential Communications Operation Office, the CHR “is doing its duty to determine the truth behind any alleged human right violation.”
“We recognize that every citizen has a constitutionally and legally protected right,” Coloma said. “This includes the right to live and to be given due process in any legal action.”
The Palace did not mention the independence of the CHR as a constitutional body separate and distinct from the executive branch.
The CHR is currently headed by a former Liberal Party stalwart, Jose Luis Gascon, an LP director director general prior to his appointment as CHR chairman. He is identified with LP standard-bearer Manuel “Mar” Roxas II who is currently trailing behind his other rivals in the surveys for the May 2016 national elections.
During the past few surveys conducted by the country’s most prominent survey company, Mayor Rodrigo Duterte was declared as the front-runner and the primary choice of Filipinos to be their next leader and President of the Republic of the Philippines.
