Duterte to CHR's Gascon: Are you a pedophile?

President Rodrigo Duterte on Saturday asked Commission on Human Rights (CHR) Chairperson Chito Gascon if he was a pedophile for being so "fixated" on young boys.

"Why is this guy so pre-suffocated with the issue of the young people, especially boys? Are you a pedophile? Mahilig ka sa mga bata?" Duterte said in a speech after meeting with a policeman held captive by the New People's Army in Davao City.

"Halos na lang mag-iyak ka ng dugo. Of course it's repugnant... Pero teenager ka na nang teenager. Hala, araw-araw," he added.

"You are so fixated with the death of young males, kaya nagdududa ako na pedophile kang gago ka."

The President said he looks forward to meeting Gascon in person.

Meanwhile, Gascon, who was in Korea attending a human rights conference, said that the president's insinuations that he was child molester all because the CHR was alarmed over the rising number of teenager-killings was "unfortunate."

"That the President again has resorted to name-calling and to using hurtful language against me is unfortunate," Gascon, said in a text message to GMA News Online.

He hoped that Duterte would refrain from hurling criticisms against him "in order to have a common civic space."

"There may be differences between the positions we take in CHR and that taken by the Executive Branch, we hope this be viewed as part of the checks and balance system of Philippine Democracy," Gascon said.

The CHR chair also emphasized that he in no way used the rights body for partisan purposes. "My work and that of the rest of the Commission is focused only on our mandate to monitor state compliance of human rights," Gascon pointed out.

On Friday, the CHR said it was "deeply disturbed" by the rise in youth killings, citing the deaths of Kian delos Santos, 17; Carl Angelo Arnaiz, 19; Reynaldo "Kulot" de Guzman, 14; Raymart Siapo, 19; and Grace Omadlao, 16.

Arnaiz, who was found dead in a morgue on August 28, was killed by policemen in an alleged shootout.

The body of De Guzman, Arnaiz' last known companion before he was killed, was found floating in a Nueva Ecija creek with his head wrapped in packaging tape and several stab wounds.

Police also claimed Delos Santos was killed in a shootout during an anti-drug operation in Caloocan City on August 16.

Siapo, who was disabled with two club feet, was killed by several armed men and was later found with two sachets of shabu.

Meanwhile, Omadlao was raped and killed in Pasig City.

In approving the 2018 national budget, the House of Representatives gave the CHR a measly P1,000 budget.

The move evoked international attention, including that of President Duterte's staunch critic United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Executions Agnes Callamard, who called for the CHR's adequate funding.

Before the slashing of the CHR's budget for 2018, Duterte had threatened to abolish the rights body.

In his speech, Duterte reiterated that he has no plans of ending his administration's campaign against illegal drugs.

"There will be no let up in the fight against organized crime," Duterte said.

"I said I rise or fall diyan sa buhay ninyo, kamatayan ninyo. That's my solemn promise to you. So [do] not destroy my country and do not destroy the young people," he added. —ALG, GMA News