The Moribund Duterte Presidency Focus on the Global South’s Post-SONA 2020 Assessment 2020 August 7 In the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic—a period marked by rising infections, an overwhelmed healthcare system, and an impending economic recession—the state of the nation demanded a show of fortitude and resolve from President Rodrigo Duterte and his government to…
“More than a hundred groups are set to stage protests on July 27, Rodrigo Duterte’s State of the Nation Address (SONA). In an online press conference this morning, July 17, Sen. Francis Pangilinan said the groups will come together to protest the slow and inadequate response of the government to the effects of the…
Sa gitna ng pangingitil sa ating kalayaan, walang iwanan! YouthResist Statement on the Passage of the ATB Ang bawat henerasyon ay tinatawag upang humarap sa matitinding mga hamon. Sinusukat tayo ng mga hamon na ito, kung tayo ba ay titindig at kikilos o tayo ay aatras at magpapadala na lamang sa agos ng kasaysayan. Hindi…
Laban ng lahat ang laban para sa Kalayaan; Laban ng lahat ang Karapatang Pantao Pahayag ng iDEFEND at PAHRA sa pagsasabatas ng Anti-Terrorism Act 2020 Sistematiko at walang pa ring tigil na pagkitil ng mga buhay upang panatilihin ang takot ng mamamayan; pagwasak sa kabuhayan ng manggagawa, upang tiklop tuhod silang magpapa samantala sa kapitalistang…
We, the people, will continue to resist the terror law! On the occasion of the 128th-year anniversary of the Katipunan that fought for our rights, freedom and independence from abuse and exploitation, we in the Movement Against the Anti-Terrorism Act (MATA) express our outrage over President Rodrigo Duterte’s failure to take seriously his oath of…
Philippines: New report reveals deliberate killings of children during “war on drugs” Geneva (OMCT) – A new report, published today, documents 122 killings of children, from 1 to 17 years old, throughout the Philippines, between July 2016 and December 2019. The report, titled “How could they do this to my child?”, jointly published by the…
Human rights groups lament the weaknesses in the government response to COVID19 one month after the ECQ Quezon City- Human rights groups lamented the weaknesses in the government program to address COVID19 one month after the enforcement of the enhanced community quarantine, particularly the lack of mass testing. In an online press conference assessing the…
Mariing naming kinukundena ang patuloy na pandarahas sa mga maralita sa gitna ng pinapatupad na Enhanced Community Quarantine. Simula pa lamang ng Enhanced Community Quarantine ay wala nang konkreto at malinaw na plano ang administrasyon ni Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte para sa ating mamamayan. Noong unang mga araw ng quarantine, karamihan sa ating mga kababayan, kabilang…
Philippine Authorities Go After Media, Online Critics Misuse of COVID-19 Law as Dozens Face Probes, Backlash By Carlos H. Conde Researcher, Asia Division Human Rights Watch @condeHRW The Philippine government is cracking down on journalists and social media users critical of the government’s COVID-19 response, threatening media freedom and the rights to free expression and…
Quezon City, Philippines — Amid the Duterte administration’s increasingly hostile militarist lockdown, the Council for People’s Development and Governance (CPDG) calls on Philippine civil society to defend and protect civic spaces and empower the marginalized (http://chng.it/HZt2Gjb92q). CPDG strongly protests Pres. Rodrigo Duterte’s dangerous and irresponsible order to kill citizens that security forces deem as defying…
Amid coronavirus outbreak, President Rodrigo R. Duterte lashed out at Chel Diokno in a late-night address yesterday saying, “Diokno is talking like a janitor. You know why you didn’t win in the last elections? Because you have big teeth. The way you talk, half of your jaw is showing.” The president just used faulty logic…
The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines denounces the criminalization of free speech and expression by the National Bureau of Investigation as disclosed by human rights lawyer Chel Diokno. News reports quoted Diokno as saying he had taken on the case of a netizen who had been subpoenaed by the National Bureau of Investigation…
Tuwiran nang nilantad ni Pangulong Duterte ang kawalang kakayahan ng gobyernong tugunan ang pinakamahahalagang usapin sa panahon ng pandemyang COVID19. Sa gitna ng kagutuman at kahirapang dulot ng Luzon lockdown ang tanging sagot ni Duterte sa mamamayang kumakalam ang sikmura ay pananakot at pandarahas. Subalit higit na pinsala ang inutil at militaristang tugon ni Duterte…
Human Rights Watch statement on Section 6 (6) of the “Bayanihan to Heal as One Act” signed by President Duterte on March 24, 2020: Section 6 (6) of the law punishes “individuals or groups creating, perpetuating, or spreading false information regarding the COVID-19 crisis on social media and other platforms, such information having no valid…
(Today, March 23, we are expecting Congress to hold a special session and grant emergency powers to Duterte as requested by Malacañang.) The supermajority in both Houses will ensure that the president will have his way, not out of deep concern for a people who face uncertainty due to the COVID19 pandemic but from a…
Workers who were forced into home quarantine without subsidies, in collective agony, already have a full view and had a taste of how disruptive and repressive Presidential power works during emergencies. The people never asked for it in the first place, nor will locked-down communities today demand a more extensive quarantine measure from the President.…
I have read a draft bill asking for emergency powers for the President. My initial analysis of the draft bill is that it contains provisions patently repugnant to the Constitution (I) for delegating Congress’ power of the purse to the President and (II) for delegating to the President legislative powers to declare acts as criminal.…
The unfolding output of the one-day special session in the House of Representatives is the grant of more emergency powers to President Rodrigo Duterte to combat COVID-19 as he requested in the Malacañang-crafted H.B. No. 6616, even as the validity of the virtual session and electronic voting of the House of Representatives is in legal…
More than a week after Enhanced Community Quarantine has been declared in Luzon and there has been damage done to the economic life of our citizens who were commandeered to stay at home, with no clear livelihood assistance, meanwhile local government units have been put in charge of providing food /food packs for their constituents…
The following overriding and critical questions about the COVID-19 pandemic afflicting the country need immediate candid answers from the Duterte administration: Why is the President’s Contingency Fund of P13 billion barely untouched when it was purposely appropriated to respond to calamities like the deadly novel coronavirus? Reliable sources reveal that only a low of P1…
