The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) is saddened by the news of the President’s direct veto of the item in the General Appropriations Act for 2022 (GAA) which seeks to help establish the Human Rights Institute (HRI)—a flagship program of the CHR that was launched during the 2021 Human Rights Day—to better carry forward its mandate under the 1987 Constitution “to establish a continuing program of human rights research, education, and information to enhance the respect for the primacy of human rights.”

CHR respectfully maintains that this item appropriation is for the discharge of its constitutional mandate. The establishment of a Human Rights Institute is a longtime vision of previous and present commissions in ensuring crucial human rights education is made accessible to the people and for government personnel to better understand their role as primary duty-bearers in fulfilling human rights obligations to faithfully comply with human rights standards and principles. With regards to the problems of historical revisionism, the HRI was envisioned to fight against revisionism and provide a gateway for robust human rights education programs with other government institutions.

Despite the direct veto, we here at CHR remain most grateful to our legislators for the inclusion of this item in the proposed General Appropriation Bill. The HRI program had undergone a comprehensive study and review, which entailed consultations within the CHR, the broader human rights community, and other similar educational institutes and offices in government. The Institute will not cause additional burden to the government as this will be undertaken with existing resources of the Commission while harnessing its potential for collaboration and partnerships with other institutions and organizations to further support it.

In the face of this development, the CHR will continue to pursue this initiative through further discussions with the Department of Budget and Management and with Congress for proposed legislation, and/or other modalities where educational institutes have been established by other constitutional bodies, such as the Civil Service Institute of the Civil Service Commission.

We thank our legislators for their support for the HRI and their commitment towards the approval of our budget as a whole. This is not only a testament to the belief in the merits of the HRI but, more importantly, to ensure that CHR is enabled to independently discharge its constitutional mandates through sufficient resources.

While the President’s veto is disheartening, we view this as an opportunity to press on. We shall continue to pound the walls of impunity to convey the message of human rights straight and across to our people. We are fully committed to continuously engage government and encourage them to do better as we work towards educating the people about human rights and promoting human rights of all. ###