By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
Bulatlat.com
MANILA — Filipino progressives marched today, Dec. 10, the International Human Rights Day to assail what they deemed as human rights crisis in the Philippines.
“There is a human rights crisis in the country. Regardless of the denials and legal acrobatics by the Duterte government, it has made its mark as a murderous regime that disregards people’s rights,” said Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay.
Earlier today, human rights defenders, families of victims of rights abuses, including those of President Duterte’s war against illegal drugs, attended a mass at the Sta. Cruz Parish in Manila.
A program was held in Liwasang Bonifacio in Manila. Progressives later marched to Mendiola, where they torched an effigy of Duterte.
Effigy turns into flames. #WeDefendTogether pic.twitter.com/nrB5Xkoqfs
— Bulatlat (@bulatlat) December 10, 2019
Karapatan documented 293 political killings, where 167 were human rights defenders. This on top of the more than 20,000 killed under Duterte’s war against illegal drugs.
The group also noted how the number of political prisoners in the country has sharply risen, where 382 of the 629 political detainees were arrested under the Duterte administration.
Among them are publicly known peace advocates and consultants to the peace negotiations between the Philippine government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines such as Rey Claro Casambre and Vicente Ladlad.
Palabay said the international human rights day reminds them that “rights do not fall from trees, but that it must continuously be asserted, defended and fought for. We prepare for the battles ahead as a full-blown dictatorship looms closer.” Bulatlat.com
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