Group turns to Facebook to push for ‘alternative’ CHR chief

A group of private individuals, most of them lawyers, has tapped the Internet to gather public support as it urged President Benigno Aquino III to appoint lawyer Carlos Medina as head of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR). A Facebook fan page called “Atty. Carlos P. Medina Jr. for Commission on Human Rights Chair!" was created on Tuesday by lawyer Ona Caritos to mobilize people to back Medina. “Gusto naming magkaroon ng ibang choice. We want to create more noise para may ibang ma-consider. Hindi lang yung mga sikat," Caritos told GMANews.TV in a phone interview. (We want an alternative choice. We want to create more noise so that others, not only those who are popular, will be considered for the position.) The Aquino administration’s search committee, tasked to recommend personalities to various Cabinet posts, has asked for the curriculum vitae of Medina, co-convenor of Election watch group Legal Network for Truthful Elections (LENTE) and executive director of the Ateneo Human Rights Center. Aquino has already expressed intention to appoint former Akbayan Rep. Loretta Ann Rosales as head of the CHR. Several human rights and party-list organizations, however, opposed Rosales’ possible appointment, noting her alleged “heavy involvement in the conflicts that cracked the human rights community." Caritos, LENTE program director, believed these oppositions were among the reasons why Aquino has not yet appointed Rosales. “At least si Attorney Medina walang masyadong kalaban (At least nobody is opposing Attorney Medina)," she said. She admitted that Medina’s chance could be “slim." “But we are hoping that he would be considered (for the post)," Caritos added. As of 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, the Facebook fan page, which has “Hanggga’t walang appointment di pa tapos ang laban (the fight continues until appointment has been made)!" as its slogan, already had 224 "fans." Caritos said they hope they could reach 1,000 members by the end of the day. Medina was previously nominated as commissioner to the Comelec in January 2008. Medina is a graduate of the Ateneo de Manila University School of Law (1984), the London School of Economics and Political Science of the University of London (1986), and the Kennedy School of Government of Harvard University (2002). He is also Secretary-General to the ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism and a lecturer for the Philippine Judicial Academy. He chaired the Philippine government panel in the Joint Monitoring Committee on the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law with the left-wing group National Democratic Front (NDF). He started out as a defense counsel of inmates of the Manila City Jail in 1985, and now teaches at the Ateneo Law School where he held the Chief Justice Teehankee Professorial Chair in Constitutional Law and Human Rights. — KBK/RSJ, GMANews.TV