President Rodrigo Duterte’s latest tirade against ABS-CBN bears all the signs of a shakedown and raises questions over his real intentions for seeking to block the renewal of the broadcast network’s franchise. On Monday, December 30, speaking to earthquake victims in M’lang, Cotabato, Duterte did not so much threaten again, which he has repeatedly done…
Rodrigo R. Duterte is a most secretive President when it comes to the details of his wealth. To this day, eight months after the April 30 deadline for filing, he has not released a copy of his Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN) for 2018. By all indications, Duterte sticks out as the…
Closing ABS-CBN Would Degrade Philippines Press Freedom By Carlos H. Conde Researcher, Asia Division Human Rights Watch @condeHRW President Rodrigo Duterte ramped up his attack on the Philippine media, vowing to block the renewal of ABS-CBN, the country’s largest and most influential broadcast network. “Your franchise will end next year,” the president said on Tuesday.…
Vice President Robredo barely warmed her seat before President Duterte fired her as co-chairperson of the Interagency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs. Was his offer of involving her in finding solutions to the situation of drugs in the Philippines ever really serious? He didn’t even give Robredo the chance to show what she could do to…
Political persecution and killings of activists and human rights defenders have been consistently at the top of the government’s agenda since Rodrigo Duterte assumed the presidency in 2016. To date, more than 2,000 human rights defenders have already been attacked through various forms including threat, intimidation, harassment, trumped-up charges, and extrajudicial killing. The massive crackdown…
Unity statement of UPV-USC, LCCS, and student organizations against the doxxing and harassment targeting members of the Skimmers Academic Organization by State-sponsored trolls of the Duterte administration Last Wednesday, October 16, 2019, UP Visayas kicked off its Pahampang Season through the annual Cheering Competition where all academic organizations best each other through cheers that tackle…
The University of the Philippines Visayas’ Student Council and other student organizations over the weekend said they “strongly condemn” the harassment received by UPV organization the Skimmers after their cheer critical of the Duterte administration’s policies went viral. “With the increased instances of red-tagging by this oppressive state whenever the University raises awareness and action…
Findings of the 2017-2019 Documentation of Extrajudicial Killings (EJK) committed in the context of the so-called War on Drugs by the Philippine Human Rights Information Center Since Rodrigo Duterte’s inauguration as the 16th president of the Philippines in 2016, the country has witnessed a steep surge in gross violations of human rights. Three years into…
MANILA, Philippines — A British filmmaker is urging President Rodrigo Duterte and his supporters to watch his documentary on the war on drugs before dismissing it as mere ‘black propaganda’. James Jones said his team did not come to the Philippines with a biased notion of the Duterte administration’s drug war, contrary to recent statements…
The decision to keep secret the venue of the latest advance screening of “On the President’s Orders” says a lot about the atmosphere of fear in the country, a human rights advocate said on Wednesday night. “Haven’t we pondered if our situation today is not normal? The fact that we have to hide, that we…
ON THE PRESIDENT’S ORDERS Drug war killings must be told, says Emmy winner director Jones “On The President’s Orders” could pass as an action film about the murky world of drugs, politics and crime that people looking for thrilling entertainment watch, except that some of its scenes were real-life happenings. A CCTV footage used in…
What’s in Negros Island that killings, violence and poverty keep on pounding the province and its people seems to have not known peace in their lives? Why is the State is using it as a laboratory or testing ground for something so dangerous that they seem desiring for the entire country? The series of extrajudicial…
Tatlong taong nagdaan, sanlaksang kasalanan ng gobyernong Duterte sa taumbayan. Inilunsad ang giyera kontra droga noong Hulyo 2016 bilang pangunahing programa ng gobyernong Duterte, alinsunod sa pangako niyang sugpuin ang illegal na kalakalan sa droga. Ang madugong kampanya ang pumaslang sa higit 27,000 Pilipino kabilang na ang higit 100 kabataan at mga sanggol, na tinagurian…
Years of painstaking efforts to pursue justice for the victims of the war on drugs won a crucial headway today as the 41st session of the UN Human Rights Council adopted resolution L20, seeking to report on the Philippines’ extrajudicial killings. The resolution, submitted by 39 countries headed by Iceland, urged the Philippine government to…
Resignation or termination. These were the two options President Duterte gave officials of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth), which has been rocked by a multibillion-peso fraudulent scam involving dead kidney patients. Duterte was to meet last night with the PhilHealth board, including ex-officio members, at Malacañang to hear the full report of the agency…
GENEVA (7 June 2019) – UN human rights experts* today called on the United Nations to establish an independent investigation into human rights violations in the Philippines, citing a sharp deterioration in the situation of human rights across the country, including sustained attacks on people and institutions defending human rights. “Given the scale and seriousness…
GENEVA — A group of United Nations human rights experts called on Friday for an international inquiry into the state of human rights in the Philippines because of the “staggering number” of unlawful killings by the security services and official attacks on people and institutions who defend human rights there. In a strongly worded condemnation…
“Disyembre pa lamang ng taong 2015 ay ipinangako na ng noo’y Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte ang umento sa sahod ng mga guro kung siya ay magiging pangulo. Hanggang ngayon ay naghihintay kami sa katuparan ng pangakong ito.” Said Benjo Basas, the national Chairperson of the Teachers’ Dignity Coalition (TDC). As the new school year…
President Rodrigo Duterte on Sunday deviated from the traditional practice of personally handing out diplomas to graduates of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA). Duterte, the commander-in-chief of the country’s armed forces, delegated this function for the first time to Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, who distributed the diplomas to most of the 261 members of the…
Filipinos are used to and appreciate President Rodrigo Duterte talking about rape to lighten the mood and, anyway, nobody can tell him what he can and cannot say, top officials said Tuesday. On Sunday, Duterte pretended to read out offenses by Philippine Military Academy cadets that the president traditionally pardons at the military academy’s graduation…
