Progressives wish for Duterte’s conviction as he turns 80
“My wish is for Duterte to be convicted. I pray that God grants him long life so he can be held accountable for all the killings he ordered. This way, we can achieve justice. He can grow old in that place.”
MANILA – Progressives reiterated their call for justice as they marked the 80th birthday of former president Rodrigo Duterte, Friday, March 28. Their wish: for Duterte to be convicted of crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court.
The groups gathered at the Liwasang Bonifacio with the banner, “Duterte panagutin, Marcos singilin!” (Hold Duterte accountable, make Marcos pay.) They asserted that Ferdinand Marcos Jr., is just like his predecessor by implementing the same policies which also resulted in rights violations.
“My wish is for Duterte to be convicted. I pray that God grants him long life so he can be held accountable for all the killings he ordered. This way, we can achieve justice. He can grow old in that place. Anyway, he’s still lucky—he’s in a comfortable place, unlike our loved ones who have rotted in the ground,” Emily Soriano told Bulatlat. Her son, Angelito was only 16 years old when he was killed along with six others including two minors and a pregnant woman On Dec. 28, 2017.
Angelito would be 24 years old on Sept. 26.
Soriano was with other mothers belonging to Rise Up for Life and for Rights who are all demanding justice for their killed loved ones.
Like Angelito, whose life was cut short in Duterte’s bloody “war on drugs” which reportedly killed 30,000, so too are the victims of extrajudicial killings—activists, peasants, revolutionaries, and even lawyers—caught in his counterinsurgency policies. This is why for human rights group Karapatan, Duterte’s administration was marked by six years of widespread human rights violations.
“Duterte’s hands drip with the blood of peasant activists who bore the brunt of his attacks against the people. Out of the 422 victims of extrajudicial killings in Duterte’s counterinsurgency program, 336 were peasants. Fifteen out of the 21 forcibly disappeared victims during his regime were also from the peasantry,” Karapatan said in a statement.
These violations were the result of Duterte’s policies such as Memorandum Order No. 32 which called for the heightened militarization of Negros, Samar and the Bicol region.
“These areas combined accounted for almost 30% of the extrajudicial killings under Duterte’s watch. One of the most notorious cases is the Tumanduk Massacre, where nine indigenous activists on the island of Panay were killed by police forces ostensibly serving them warrants. The activists had been opposed to the construction of the destructive Jalaur Dam,” the group added.
The group also cited the imposition of martial law in Mindanao for close to two years, “ordering the bombing of Marawi which left a trail of death and destruction and led to the displacement of more than 100,000 people in the war-torn city,” Karapatan said.
“He ordered his fascist troops to go on a rampage throughout the rest of Mindanao, conduct air strikes to “flatten the hills,” lay siege to indigenous communities and close down Lumad schools,” the group said.
This has led to the closure of 56 Lumad schools all over Mindanao, depriving over 2,000 Lumad students of their right to education, Karapatan said.
“It also paved the way for more big business and mining interests to encroach on the Lumad’s ancestral lands. Between May 23, 2017 and January 1, 2020, Karapatan documented at least 110 victims of extrajudicial killings in Mindanao under martial law, and the forced evacuation of more than 400,000 individuals due to bombings and other military operations in their communities,” they added.
Also under the Duterte presidency, Kapatid, a support group for families and friends of political prisoners, said the number of political prisoners increased significantly, reaching 802.
As of now, under Ferdinand Marcos Jr. administration, there are 748 political prisoners in total, and approximately 500 of them are still imprisoned.
“The political prisoners are a significant aspect of Duterte’s crimes against humanity alongside the victims of the drug war,” said Fides Lim, spokesperson of Kapatid.
Meanwhile, Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas Secretary General Ronnie Manalo said, “We join the Filipino people and the international community in demanding full accountability for Duterte’s crimes. His 80th birthday should serve as a reminder that justice remains elusive – but it will not be denied forever.”
At the end of the program in Liwasang Bonifacio, groups lit candles not for Duterte but for the victims of his administration. (RVO)
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