Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said the government should fund the Commission on Human Rights (CHR).

“I hope they will reconsider that they (CHR) will be given (funds) unless that will be abolished. They have to support (CHR) because it’s a constitutional body. It is in the Constitution. The people there cannot be removed with impeachment," said Lorenzana Thursday.

"So since it is there I think it’s just right that they should be funded,” Lorenzana said when asked his opinion on the 1,000 peso budget approved by the House of Representatives for the CHR in 2018.

Lorenzana emphasized the importance of the Commission on Human Rights in maintaining check and balance to protect people's rights.

“For one , it keeps government officials, especially the military and police to be careful of what they are doing because anything that they would do that violates the rights of another person, they will be liable to human rights violation,” Lorenzana said.

Lorenzana said the military has a good relationship with the CHR.

“We enjoy the relationship. If you will check our records for the past couple of years, there were very few human rights violations by the military,” he said.

“When I was in the field, when I was a commander I had a very healthy relationship with the CHR in the region because I invited them to lecture, because people should be taught what is human rights. It's in the Constitution. I think it’s still going on. We even have human rights officers in our units. We have a human rights officer in every unit of the AFP down to the company, the battalion who lectures the people,” he added.

Lorenzana expressed his belief that the CHR should not be abolished immediately but he did not elaborate. “No no no, not immediately...because we still need them,” he said. Robina Asido/DMS