REQUIRING the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to secure the President's permission to get evidence on crimes is not only too bureaucratic but it is also a long procedure.

“Secondly, CHR is a constitutional body, which should have access to records of cases in the PNP (Philippine National Police),” Gov. Hilario Davide III said yesterday.

Davide, chairman of the Regional Peace and Order Council, said it is the CHR's mandate to investigate complaints of human rights violations by people in power.

Davide said the CHR was included in the 1987 Constitution to address the murders, disappearances and violations of human rights during the martial law years.

“If we abolish CHR, who will investigate human rights violations? The police? What if the violator is the police?” he said.