CHR chief has no plans of quitting even though Duterte told him to "shut up"!

The President-elect Rodrigo Duterte might have called him an idiot and to "shut up", but Jose Luis Martin Gascon, the chair of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), claims that he has no plans of quitting.

He says to Inquirer: “That would mean we lose our independence,” Moreover, Gascon has a 7-year term as CHR's chair, an independent constitutional body. 

Also, he is not a part of the President's Cabinet and does not need to turn in a coutesy resignation. “The CHR is a constitutional office. If there’s a reorganization… the process of removing the CHR will have to be done according to the Constitution,” he added.

When asked about his action if Duterte tries to replace him, he stated: "I will fight it." He also addressed the "hopes and threats" that will come with the approaching Duterte administration.

“If the events and facts suggest that there’s repression rather than protection of human rights, CHR is prepared to stand firm in defense of the promotion and fulfillment of human rights for all people,” Gascon said.

Both Duterte and Gascon had tension before. It can be remembered that Gascon called him out over his remark towards the Australian missionary who was raped and killed in 1989. 

The incoming president said that he should have been first to rape the woman. Gascon, later on, issued a ruling that Duterte has violated Magna Carta of Women (MCW). This led to the President-elect to call Gascon as "naive" and "an idiot".

Though Duterte has told him to shut up, Gascon said: “We will continue to monitor and protect human rights if we see abuses, we will stand and fight for human rights. Nothing in our mandate is to shut up,”