STATEMENT
On the passing of CHR Chair Chito Gaston, Yeb Saño, executive director of Greenpeace Southeast Asia, and a petitioner to the CHR’s Climate Change and Human Rights Inquiry, said:
“We are deeply saddened by the passing of Commission on Human Rights (CHR) Chair Jose Luis ‘Chito’ Martin Gascon, who valiantly stood to defend Filipinos against human rights threats and abuses.
“Chito was a staunch ally in the fight for climate justice—to protect Filipinos’ rights in the face of climate change. Under his leadership, the CHR welcomed the world’s first climate change and human rights inquiry, which seeks to hold corporate giants accountable for climate impacts that caused human rights harms. Despite the petition being an unprecedented case, he listened to the voices and pleas of typhoon survivors, the youth, and communities at the frontlines of the climate crisis. He cried for them and vowed to uphold the CHR’s mandate to investigate and monitor all matters concerning violations against human rights of the Filipino people.
“We join his family, friends, and human rights defenders in mourning his death. We will continue to fight for climate justice, an issue he strongly advocated.”
Note:
[1] During the filing of the petition in 2015, Chair Gascon said: “The Commission, mindful of its general mandate to uphold human rights in the Philippines, accepted the petition as the Constitution directs it to investigate and monitor all matters concerning the human rights of the Filipino people. The inquiry, it is hoped, would result in the improvement and/or development of measures to further protect and promote human rights in this era of climate change.”
Media contact:
Angeli Cantillana
Communications Campaigner, Greenpeace Southeast Asia – Philippines
[email protected] | +63 998 595 9733