Tired of being a "toothless tiger," the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) wants to become a quasi-judicial body with tribunal, and not merely prosecutorial, powers.

"For now, we're just a fact-finding body. We're called a toothless tiger because all we can do is positioning only. We can't bare our teeth," said CHR Chair Leila de Lima in an interview with the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

By turning into a quasi-judicial body, De Lima said the CHR would be able to "determine facts, apply the laws to those facts and render judgement and penalties."

"We will have teeth," De Lima said.

De Lima likened the tribunal powers the CHR wanted to that of the Commission on Elections (Comelec), a quasi-judicial body.

"Only the Supreme Court can review the decisions of the Comelec. That's what we are envisioning for the CHR," said De Lima, who was an election lawyer identified with opposition candidates before assuming the CHR portfolio in 2008.

Measures on the agency's charter are pending in the House of Representatives and the Senate. Most of the bills, De Lima said, would grant the CHR prosecutorial powers, like the Human Security Act (HSA) had.

Clearly, this time, the CHR wants to avoid what happened when the HSA was crafted wherein the agency was not consulted on whether or not it wanted prosecutorial powers.

"We don't want that (prosecutorial powers) but it's there (in the HSA). We were never consulted about it," De Lima said.

De Lima explained that the CHR's prosecutorial powers overlap with those of other government agencies and actually become inconsistent with the agency's mandate.

"We are also concerned with the rights of the accused," De Lima said.

According to De Lima, the CHR currently has a "Status A accreditation" from the United Nations.

This meant the agency has been "fully compliant with the elements of the Paris Principles, such as transparency, pluralism, fiscal autonomy, and independence," De Lima said.

"Not all human rights bodies have a Status A accreditation. The CHR needs to be able to maintain that status, particularly in the area of independence," De Lima stressed.

The CHR has been investigating cases of abuses particularly those involving extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances blamed largely on state authorities under the Arroyo administration.

One of the cases the CHR is pursuing is that of missing activist James Balao, who was allegedly abducted by military agents in La Trinidad province on 17 September.

Along with the rights group, Karapatan, the CHR is also building evidence against the military unit that tortured farmer Raymond Manalo and his brother, and allegedly killed Manuel Merino, who was last seen with missing University of the Philippines students Karen Empeno and Sherlyn Cadapan.

Date: 2 November 2008

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer