MANILA (3rd UPDATE) - The House of Representatives ended debates on the 2018 budget of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) and left it with just P1,000 for next year.

A total of 119 lawmakers favored the P1,000 budget while 32 objected, on Tuesday.

The CHR, which has been critical of the administration's war on drugs, had an original budget proposal of P623.38 million.

During the voting, 1SAGIP Party-list Rodante Marcoleta moved for the P1,000 budget, as he criticized CHR for "not upholding the human rights of everyone" and for supposedly failing to go after criminals. He also assailed the legal basis for the creation of the CHR, arguing it was only an executive fiat of then President Corazon Aquino which created the CHR.

But this was objected to by Buhay Party-list Rep. Lito Atienza, who argued that CHR's budget should be at P2 billion due to many accusations of human rights violations under the Duterte government.

CHR Chairman Chito Gascon was deeply saddened by the budget cut, saying Congress' move was a "whimsical & capricious display of vindictiveness."

"We had hoped that both the Speaker & the House Majority would have been persuaded by reason & necessity to allocate an adequate budget to CHR in order for us to effectively perform our constitutional mandate as an independent office to protect human rights," he said.

During an ambush interview, Commission on Human Rights Commissioner Gwen Pimentel Gana confirmed that House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez told her during their recent meeting that the CHR's budget would be approved if Gascon stepped down from his post.

"He [Alvarez] just expressed his feelings the same way he said to the public, that he intends to pursue the P1,000 budget for the CHR and, of course, he did mention that if the chair [Gascon] would step down, then probably the budget would be increased or given to the CHR," she said.

Gascon refused to resign and instead thanked the 32 lawmakers who objected to the budget cut.

"Many of us were teary-eyed…I became teary-eyed because these were tears of joys…that there was so many who stood up, not the majority, but so many. In fact, many of those at the first stage who didn't vote 'aye' but had to stand up later also approached us," he said.

Gascon explained that life goes on for the CHR since the budget bill still has to go through the Senate and the bicameral conference committee before it is signed by the President.

"The commission will continue to operate so long as the Constitution operates. Despite this defeat in the House, we look forward to defending our budget in the Senate and we hope that reason...will prevail both at the Senate as well as in the bicameral conference committee," he said.

The opposition Liberal Party, meanwhile, lauded the 32 lawmakers who opposed the measure and said the lower budget will give way to more drug-related teens' deaths.

"The 32 are awake, while the 119 who voted for the measly CHR budget may be unaware that their vote could help lead to the end of our democracy. Because their “yea” votes means they agree to having more Kians, Carls, and Kulots in the future, defenseless in life and in death, their killers unpunished. Their deaths will be on them too," the party said in a statement.

United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary and Arbitrary Executions Agnes Callamard called the House of Representatives' move "reprehensible."

Reprehensible and unconscionable: #Philippines Congress slash annual budget of Commission for Human Rights to 20 USD @UNHumanRights

— Agnes Callamard (@AgnesCallamard) September 12, 2017

Callamard has been critical of extra-judicial killings under the Duterte administration and had sought an invitation to visit the country to investigate drug-related killings.

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