Various groups and personalities launched the Movement Against Tyranny in Quezon City yesterday, Aug. 28, “to unite all freedom-loving Filipinos against tyranny and build a broad front to counter the increasing fascism and militarist rule of the (Rodrigo) Duterte government.”
The group approved the manifesto “Stop the Killings, Stand Against Tyranny” that accuses Duterte of unleashing police and police-backed death squads blamed for the the “brutal and murderous war on drugs” that has victimized thousands of mostly poor, small-time drug users and pushers.
Warning the Duterte government is fast unfolding into another despotic regime, the group calls on the public “to take a stand, speak out and act” against the extrajudicial killings and other “blatant acts of tyranny.”
MAT is the broadest alliance of groups yet that opposes Duterte’s war on drug, which include religious and political leaders, human rights organizations, activists, academics, lawyers, journalists and many others.
Video and text by Kodao Productions