Enraged by what they call a failure of governance, a new multisectoral group launched Monday a campaign urging Filipinos to unite and demand accountability from the Duterte administration over excesses of power, among them “extrajudicial killings that have become the hallmark of his war on drugs.”
Called “Tindig Pilipinas,” the group is composed of 50 member organizations from the youth, women, the academe and the minority bloc in the Senate and House of Representatives, who are concerned that the country is heading for a dictatorship under President Rodrigo Duterte. In Filipino, “tindig” means to stand.
Multisectoral group Tindig Pilipinas reads its unity statement expressing outrage over abuses under the Duterte administration on Sept. 18, Club Filipino, San Juan City.
“Over the past year, our country has witnessed senseless killings, wanton violence and unadulterated greed and corruption,” the group said in a statement at Club Filipino, San Juan. “We cannot in good conscience, as a country and as a people, continue to sit by idly. We must stand up.”
Addressing Duterte and the Philippine National Police, “Tindig Pilipinas” called for an end to the “murderous” Oplan Double Barrel, the government’s official anti-drug campaign, and urged them to refocus efforts toward a restorative approach where drug dependence is treated as a health issue and not a criminal concern.
According to government statistics, 3,811 people have been killed in anti-drug operations since the campaign began last July 1, 2016 up till Aug. 29, 2017.
The multisectoral group also expressed alarm over the weakening of institutions such as the Department of Justice, the Office of the Solicitor General and the police, and threats of impeachment and budget cuts to the Office of the Ombudsman, the Supreme Court and the Commission on Human Rights.
“We lay the wrongdoings we see around us at the doorstep of the President. We recognize that he is not doing it alone, and that there are many others helping him along this destructive path for whatever motives,” the group said.
“Tindig Pilipinas” was launched days before the 45th anniversary of the declaration of martial law by former President Ferdinand Marcos on Sept. 21, 1972.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said last week Duterte was considering declaring a nationwide martial law if leftist groups stage violent demonstrations on Sept 21, but the defense chief himself acknowledged that chances were “remote.”
Duterte imposed Martial Law in Mindanao last May 23 because of the threat of terrorism in Marawi. On July 23, Congress approved his request for an extension of martial rule till December 31, 2017.
But for former Civil Service Commission Chairperson Karina David, one of group’s lead convenors, martial law virtually exists even without a declaration.
“Our generation thought that with the kind of Constitution we created in 1987, the possibility of a Marcos martial law would be a thing of the past,” she told VERA Files.
But it seems the Duterte administration is accustomed to employing “the extreme measures possible” such as impeachment, jailing, budget cuts, as a way of intimidating people, she said.
“And for as long as people do not stand up and complain, it’s like giving them the red carpet to really impose martial law even without formally imposing it,” David added.
Former Solicitor General Florin Hilbay pointed out that Duterte does not have the right to dangle the threat of martial law, which can only be constitutional if there is actual rebellion or invasion.
Rebellion, he told VERA Files, is taking up arms against the government. “That’s a far cry from going out on the streets, tweeting, posting on Facebook and … expressing one’s outrage. Very different,” Hilbay said.
Former Solicitor General Florin Hilbay says President Rodrigo Duterte himself took an oath to defend the Constitution.
Sought for comment that the campaign might be tagged as an initiative of the Liberal Party, David said most of the member organizations are non-partisan, save for Akbayan, Magdalo and lawmakers from the Senate and House minority.
Magdalo Representative Gary Alejano, during the event said, “Alam naman natin na lahat ng kumokontra ng mga polisya ng president ay tinatawag na dilawan (We know that those who criticize the president’s polices are labeled as dilawan) That should not stop us from coming together.”
Hilbay said Duterte himself took an oath to defend the Constitution, so it shouldn’t be a political matter.
“A president who took an oath to defend the Constitution, who also undermines all those institutions of the Constitution should not worry about the people defending the Constitution itself,” Hilbay said.
