By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
Bulatlat.com
MANILA – The human rights record of Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is just as bloody as his previous predecessor.
Human rights group Karapatan stressed this point on International Human Rights Day on Tuesday, Dec. 10. Marching from Liwasang Bonifacio up to Recto Avenue in Manila, the group, along with other sectoral organizations, carried banners that read “Marcos singilin! Duterte panagutin!” (Hold Marcos accountable! Indict Duterte).
Karapatan criticized the administration’s Philippine Human Rights Action Plan, describing it as mere “PR gimmick.”
The group said that no matter how much the Marcos Jr. administration “tries to prettify his image by raking dirt on the Dutertes, Marcos Jr.’s own hands are bloodied by human rights violations and violations of international humanitarian law perpetrated under his regime which does the bidding of the US in undertaking counterinsurgency campaigns that desperately try to quell all forms of dissent.”
Karapatan documented 119 extrajudicial killings (EJK) of activists, rights advocates, farmers and ordinary folk since Marcos Jr. started his term in July 2022.
Another 76 individuals were victims of frustrated EJKs; 14 were victims of enforced disappearance; 43,582 were victims of forced evacuation; 63,380 were victims of indiscriminate firing; and 46,921 were victims of bombing.
There are also 757 political prisoners languishing in various detention centers nationwide, 148 of them arrested under Marcos Jr. Ninety-seven political prisoners are ailing and 103 are elderly.
Karapatan said that the Dahas Project of the University of the Philippines’ Third World Studies Center documented more than 800 drug-related killings since Marcos Jr. took office, thus contradicting his claims of a “bloodless” war on drugs.
Perpetrating rights violations
Progressive groups said that under the Marcos Jr. administration, policies that perpetuate violations of human rights and international humanitarian law were not scrapped nor rescinded.
In particular, the groups said that Marcos Jr. continued the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) created under former president Rodrigo Duterte’s Executive Order No. 70.
Karapatan said that the NTF-ELCAC “continues to red- and terror-tag activists and threaten and intimidate them into joining staged surrenders. Those who refuse to become part of such a farce are made vulnerable to extrajudicial killing, enforced disappearance or unjust arrest and detention on trumped-up charges.”
The Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) signed into law by Duterte and an earlier law against terrorist financing suppressed dissent by linking activism to terrorism and victimized more than 100 activists and ordinary civilians, the group said.
Charm Maranan, Defend Southern Tagalog spokesperson, said that human rights defenders in their region are being accused of violating these laws.
Read: Quezon rights defenders charged with terrorism financing
Read: ‘How quickly the dominoes fall,’ terror charges vs. ST youth activists dismissed
“There is no difference (between Marcos Jr. and Duterte). If not slapped with trumped up charges, people are being killed to silence them,” Maranan said during the program at the Liwasang Bonifacio.
Sandugo Movement of Moro and Indigenous Peoples for Self-Determination Co-chairperson and Makabayan senatorial aspirant Amirah Lidasan said that despite the reported rift between the Dutertes and Marcoses, both have sordid records of rights violations.
“In the Cordillera, almost all human rights defenders are being slapped with the anti-terror law or financing terrorism. This is also the case of church people who are supporting the fight of the Lumad in Mindanao such as the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines and the United Church of Christ in the Philippines-Haran in Davao,” Lidasan said.
She stressed that the bombing of communities in the countryside affect opposed to destructive mining, the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, and the RP-US Balikatan exercises.
Read: Aerial bombing violates int’l humanitarian law
Read: Rights groups denounce bombing of communities in Abra, Ilocos Sur
Various groups also assailed the use of confidential intelligence funds by Vice President Sara Duterte and Marcos Jr.
In a statement, ACT Teachers Partylist said, “Only a few individuals are amassing wealth and profits, while many families from political dynasties are turning government positions into businesses.”
The group also questioned the confidential funds of Duterte amounting to P612.5-million and of Marcos Jr amounting to P4.56 billion.
“The Marcos Jr administration continues the Duterte practice of abusing confidential and intelligence funds—the same funds Rodrigo Duterte used to fuel his death squads and Sara Duterte allegedly plundered for personal gain,” the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) said in a statement.
‘No charade can erase blood on its hands’
“This International Human Rights Day, we remind the Marcos Jr. regime that no charade can erase the blood on its hands,” the NUPL said.
“We demand justice for the victims of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, and other human rights abuses; the impeachment and prosecution of Sara Duterte for the plunder of public funds; and the dismantling of repressive laws and policies, including the Anti-Terrorism Act and NTF-ELCAC which institutionalize red-tagging and the criminalization of dissent,” they said.
Meanwhile, JL Burgos, brother of Jonas Burgos who has been missing since 2007, said that victims and their families will always continue to fight for justice.
“They say there’s nothing more that can be done. But there is. The strength is within us. Our unity will end the darkness. Every day that they deny our loved ones will become a spark to ignite the fire in our hearts and minds. This fire is what we will use to exact justice,” Burgos said in Filipino.
Llore Pasco of Rise Up for Life and for Rights said that they waited to make their voices heard, expressing her gratitude for allowing them to tell their story at the House of Representatives committee hearing. Pasco’s two sons were killed in Duterte’s so-called war on drugs
“We thank the Makabayan bloc and we were given the chance to tell the truth about what happened during Duterte’s administration. This is why we continue to call for justice,” Pasco said at Liwasang Bonifacio.
Abduction survivor Jonila Castro stressed the youth’s role to continue the fight for justice. “As youth, we will continue what has been started by those who dedicated and continue to dedicate their lives for the complete liberation of the nation.” (RTS, RVO, DAA)
