KIKO BACKS CHR REFORMS: "Granting the Commission prosecutory powers will give it more teeth!"

Senate Majority Leader and Independent senator Kiko Pangilinan today backed the Commission on Human Rights (CHR)'s plan to push for the organization's prosecutorial

"With the rise of extra-judicial killings and forced disappearances and the declining respect for justice in the country, it is best to channel our efforts at strengthening the fear and respect for the rule of law. We have long supported reforms in the Commission on Human Rights, and we are behind it in its quest for prosecutorial power in order to make the organization more proactive and relevant," Kiko said.

The CHR appointed its new chair, election lawyer Leila de Lima on May 15, 2008. Aside from pushing for prosecutory powers, De Lima plans to make the CHR the repository of all statistics on human rights and wield its authority to grant immunity from prosecution to any persons, including soldiers who have information on the murders, to help solve the political killings and forced disappearances in the country.

"We need to punish more in order to promote respect for the rule of law. Only when wrongdoers are punished will there be genuine justice. If we have a Commission on Human Rights that is only recommendatory in nature, it does not strike fear in the hearts of offenders, and the process of indicting criminals only takes longer and more convoluted," Kiko ended.