By JUSTIN UMALI Bulatlat.com In the wake of Facebook’s recent shutdown of state-sponsored fake pages and accounts, it’s easy to overlook that there are other aspects aside from state fascism. Since Duterte signed Executive Order 70 in December 2018, the National Task Force to End the Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) has busied itself…
The Duterte regime’s denying the public access to government information prevents the populace’s meaningful involvement in the politics and governance of this country as the essential condition to bringing about the social, economic and political changes needed to bring it to the 21st century — changes Mr. Duterte was promising during his 2016 campaign for the Presidency, and in anticipation of which he was elected by 33% of the electorate
But over the years, Duterte has attacked human rights advocacy groups as “enemies of the state,” also church leaders, priests, pastors and nuns. He even berated the Commission on Human Rights (a constitutional body) for criticizing certain policies or pronouncements of his government. He talked (confusedly or maliciously) of “detractors pass(ing) themselves off as human rights advocates while preying on the most vulnerable humans: even using children as soldiers or human shields in [armed] encounters.”
The Philippines’ “loss” is US hate-mongers’ gain. But that shouldn’t be the reason for anyone to think the Duterte pardon of Pemberton is a calculated jeer at US society.
UN Special Rapporteur for extra-legal killings Agnes Callamard, speaking for several other special rapporteurs at another activity, recommended among others twin actions: for the Council to establish an on-the-ground international investigation into alleged HRVs in the Philippines, while continuing to monitor and report on the prevailing conditions; and for its member-states to “apply sanctions against Philippine government officials who [may be found] to have committed, have initiated or failed to investigate or prevent HRVs, including arbitrary killings.”
By DEE AYROSO
Billion-dollar military deals provide context to the release of Pemberton.
HB 7137 is not just another attempt by Marcos idolaters to market an imagined past for mass consumption. Forgetting what really happened in history is the surest road to its repetition.
Of the P19.13-billion proposed budget, the biggest share, P16.4 billion from the President’s Local Government Support Fund, is to be allotted to a Barangay Development Program (BDP) administered by NTF-ELCAC.
BY KOBI TOLENTINO Bulatlat.com Under Rodrigo Duterte, the horrendous act of taking dead bodies as hostages seemed to have become part of the military and police’s standard operating protocol. It happens when they deny the remains of alleged armed leftists from claimant families unless the latter has been co-opted. Hunting for bounties in a…
By DEE AYROSO