19 2.36. Also, the Honorable Commission was empowered by the Constitution65 to “adopt its operational guidelines and rules of procedure.” In fulfillment of said constitutional directive, the Honorable Commission issued its Omnibus Rules66. Section 2, Rule 2 thereof specifically provides that, in line with its role as a national human rights institution, the Honorable Commission “shall also investigate and monitor all economic, social and cultural rights violations and abuses, as well as threats of violations thereof, especially with respect to the conditions of those who are marginalized, disadvantaged, and vulnerable,” as most of the petitioners herein. Likewise, Section 3, Rule 7 of the Omnibus Rules of the Commission states that the subject of public inquiry includes “human rights cases and/or issues involving civil and political, or economic, social, and cultural rights which are of domestic and/or international implication/importance . . . .” 2.37. Respondent Shell argues that the Honorable Commission’s “unilateral attempt to extend its jurisdiction to socio-economic rights by means of its rules of procedure is invalid and unconstitutional.”67 According to respondent Shell, it is only the Congress that has authority to expand the Honorable Commission’s jurisdiction to hear cases other than human rights violations involving civil and political rights.68 2.38. Respondent Shell terribly misses the point. At the risk of sounding repetitious, unlike Section 18(1), Sections 18(3), (6) and (7) are not limited to civil and political rights— they refer not only to civil and political rights, but also economic, social and cultural rights (including environmental rights), and the authority of the Honorable Commission to set its “operational guidelines” was, according to Fr. Bernas, adopted in lieu of authority to ‘set its own priorities’ in order to avoid the suspicion that the Commission might narrow the scope of its investigations to military violations of human rights only.69 2.39. This is not merely semantics, or a play of words. The framers of the Constitution intended not to restrict or limit the Honorable Commission’s investigatory, recommendatory, and monitoring powers. Effective investigation, monitoring, and development of recommendations entail a comprehensive, holistic, and integrated approach. This is because human rights is multi-faceted and denotes universality -- it is not singular, 65 Section 18(2), Article XIII of the Constitution. Guidelines and Procedures in the Investigation and Monitoring of Human Rights Violations and Abuses, and the Provision of CHR Assistance (“Omnibus Rules of the Commission), April 2012, available at http://www.chr.gov.ph/MAIN%20PAGES/about%20us/PDF/FINAL_APPROVED_8.31.2012.pdf, last accessed on 06 February 2017. 67 No. I (E), pp. 29-33 of respondent Shell’s Motion to Dismiss Ex Abundanti Ad Cautelam dated 09 September 2016. 68 supra., note 67. 69 Bernas, J.G. (2003). op cit., p. 1226. 66