Ang Bayan Editorial | October 7, 2024
After
several months of hearings in Congress, the secret details of the
operation led and managed by Rodrigo Duterte and his accomplices in
Malacañang regarding the sham and bloody "war on drugs" and the criminal
campaign of extrajudicial killings are slowly being revealed to the
public. This further strengthens the resolve of the Filipino people to
fight for justice for the thousands of victims. Their call to indict,
prosecute, and punish Duterte for his crimes against humanity is growing
stronger.
The hearings confirmed
what the public has known all along, that Duterte and his top officials
are directly responsible for the extrajudicial killings. A number of
officials who were once Duterte's flunkies are now testifying about how
he or his accomplices ordered their armed henchmen to carry out these
bloody crimes. Hundreds of millions of pesos in public funds were used
by Duterte to feed his minions.
Duterte
targeted criminal rivals who refused to kneel to his power, as well as
political opponents who refused to bow to his tyranny. They were killed
in cold blood. Some chose to remain silent. Others were thrown into
prison, and there executed.
Fearing
he would suffer the same fate as his father, who was ruthlessly
butchered by Duterte's police while incarcerated, Kerwin Espinosa agreed
to the orders of then-police chief Bato dela Rosa to admit he was a
"drug lord" and testify against Leila de Lima, an imprisoned critic of
Duterte. This was Espinosa's revelation made in Congress.
Among
those who also appeared before Congress was Royina Garma, former police
chief of Davao City, who is known to be close to Duterte. Along with
Duterte, Garma was named as one of those who ordered the killings of
imprisoned Chinese "drug lords" inside the Davao jail in 2016. She was
appointed that year as the head of police in Cebu, where the "war on
drugs" turned bloody. She was appointed in 2019 as head of the
Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) and was implicated as the
mastermind behind the killing of rival official Wesley Barayuga, who was
murdered by police in 2020.
Despite
attempts to wash her hands in Congress, Garma admitted having endorsed
Col. Edilberto Leonardo to Duterte to serve as one of the key operators
of the "war on drugs." Duterte appointed him to various positions in the
government before assigning him to the National Police Commission in
2022. According to Garma, Leonardo was responsible for planning the
killings and managing the funds to cover expenses and reward mercenary
police killers of Duterte who sought to establish himself as the lord of
all drug lords in the Philippines.
The
information revealed in the congressional hearings and investigations
further strengthens the case filed by thousands of victims at the
International Criminal Court (ICC) against Duterte for crimes against
humanity. It sufficiently proves how Duterte systematically used and
abused his power as president to orchestrate a horrific campaign of
killings that claimed the lives of thousands of victims. He branded
anyone he implicated in drugs as animals and incited armed state forces
to use their power against them without limit, without fear of the law
or legal procedure. All killings were justified with the "nanlaban"
(fought back) excuse to absolve Duterte's criminals in uniform from
accountability.
Duterte used the
"war on drugs" to establish his tyrannical reign. The same tactics of
ruthless killings were directed against organizations of workers,
farmers, indigenous peoples, urban poor, students, and other sectors, as
well as against human rights defenders and peace advocates. On
Duterte's orders, state forces carried out the Bloody Sunday in Southern
Tagalog, Operation Sauron in Negros, the Tumandok Massacre in Panay,
and other heinous crimes. Duterte also directly ordered bombings and
shelling to sow widespread military terrorism in the countryside.
Duterte also masterminded the series of killings of captured
revolutionary leaders, including those who served as consultants in
peace talks.
The Filipino people
must strengthen and tirelessly reiterate their call to indict,
prosecute, and punish the fascist criminal Rodrigo Duterte, as well as
his accomplices (including dela Rosa, Bong Go, and even his daughter
Sara), and all officials and elements of the police and military
involved in the criminal abuse of power. Bringing Duterte to the ICC
will serve as one of the key measures to establish the legal foundation
for holding accountable all those involved in his crimes.
Marcos
must be held responsible for his collusion with and accommodation of
the Dutertes in securing his own power, and for obstructing the people's
efforts to bring Duterte and his accomplices to the ICC. Even if the
"uni-team" of the Marcoses and Dutertes has collapsed, they remain
allies in oppressing and exploiting the people and in defending each
other's interests. Marcos fears that any punishment meted out to Duterte
will also befall him in due time.
As
long as none of these criminals are punished, abusive bureaucratic
capitalists and fascists will continue to reign, relentlessly trampling
on the rights and welfare of the people. The culture of impunity of the
state armed forces promoted and fanned by Duterte is now being used by
Marcos to establish his own tyranny based on sowing violence against the
people.
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