Philippines cuts its human rights budget to £15

President Duterte's supporters 'imposing death penalty on a constitutionally created office'

Commission house speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, a close ally of President Rodrigo Duterte, says commission deserves small budget because it is 'useless' (MARK R CRISTINO/AFP/Getty Images)

The Philippines is set to give an annual budget of just 1,000 pesos (£15) to its human rights body amid the country's brutal war on drugs.

The drastic cut to the Commission on Human Rights' (CHR) budget was supported by 119 politicians to just 32 in the country's congress.

But critics say the move is punishment for the body's staunch criticism of President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs and the public body's efforts to investigate thousands of killings over the past 15 months.

The number of deaths has attracted international criticism.

But Pantaleon Alvarez, the speaker of the House of Representatives, the lower house of the country's Congress, defended the funding plan.

He told local television that the commission deserved the small budget for being "useless" and defending criminals' rights.

But Congressman Edcel Lagman said the president's supporters were "virtually imposing the death penalty on a constitutionally created and mandated office".

The CHR had requested a budget of 1.72bn pesos (£25m) for 2018, but the government proposed less than half that.

On the second reading of the legislation, Congress voted to slash that to just 1,000 pesos (£25). The 2017 budget for the CHR was 749m pesos (£11m)

The budget requires Senate approval before it becomes final, but opponents say it is likely to be passed because Mr Duterte has a majority in both the house's chambers.

​Phelim Kine, deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch, said the overwhelming support for the cut was “part of the Duterte administration's attempt to prevent independent institutions to check its abuses”.

Agnes Callamard, the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial killings, said Filipinos deserved a strong, independent rights organisation that could hold the state accountable.

“Instead they are getting a 'war on drugs' which, by the president's own account, has failed to curtail addiction rates, while creating a climate of fear and insecurity, feeding impunity, and undermining the constitutional fabrics of the Country,” Ms Callamard said in a Facebook post.

“If the Philippines Congress is looking for public money being wasted, damaging and hurting the Philippines society, this is it.”

The CHR has long said it lacks funding to fully investigate the killings, the majority of which activists say are of users and small-time peddlers.

But Filipinos are largely supportive of the crackdown and it is seen as a solution to tackling rampant crime.

Critics maintain police are executing suspects, and say the government has a thinly-veiled kill policy. Mr Duterte has angrily rejected the accusation and police say they kill only in self-defence.

CHR head, Chito Gascon, said the measly budget was an attempt to force his resignation. He vowed to take the issue to the Supreme Court if necessary.

“The principal reason why I cannot resign my office is that to do so is to weaken the institution itself,” Mr Gascon said. “Asking me to resign would lead to essentially making the institution forever at the mercy of politics.”

Reuters contributed to this report