MANILA, Philippines — Rights, peace and peasant advocates called on the public to frustrate an attempt to extend President Rodrigo Duterte’s grip on power, whose six-year term is set to end next year.
In a forum held Wednesday, Cristina Palabay, secretary general of human rights watchdog Karapatan, said “there has been no peace and justice” during Duterte’s five years in office.
Palabay said the government’s deadly “war on drugs” is instead a war on the poor because it has led to the deaths of tens of thousands of Filipinos, mostly from the urban poor.
She added that "legitimate dissent and struggles for national liberation" are muddled and are wrongly equated with terrorism, while armed conflict and its roots are reduced to “mere violent acts.”
According to Karapatan’s tally, there were at least 414 victims of extrajudicial killings and 497 cases of frustrated killings under the government’s counter-insurgency program.
Farmers, fishers, teachers, unionists, and indigenous peoples have been vilified and attacked, the groups stressed. National Union of People's Lawyers also accused Duterte's government of weaponizing the law against perceived government critics.
"As long as there is a Duterte in Malacañan, there will be no peace and justice," Palabay said.
"Indeed, it’s high time that we say no more to this type of governance. It is high time for Duterte’s rule to end. It is high time that we make him accountable for the crimes he and his minions have committed against the Filipino people," she added.
Duterte has remained popular, with pollster Pulse Asia recording a 91% approval rating for the president last September. He has also managed to retain the support of politicians and parties, with the administration coalition holding supermajorities at the House and Senate.
Duterte to run for vice president?
Last week, Duterte once again floated the idea of a vice presidential run in the 2022 elections, saying it would give him immunity from criminal charges. The vice president of the country, however, is not immune from lawsuits.
Duterte has been urged by his political party PDP-Laban to seek the vice presidency to sustain his policies and programs. Normally, it is the president who sets policy and legislative priorities.
Under the Constitution, he cannot run for re-election.
His daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio is being encouraged to run for the nation’s top post. She has yet to decide on whether to run for president but has indicated she is now open to it. She previously said she was not interested.
“For these unrelenting attacks against us, we resolve that this murderous regime should no longer stay in position. Five years of suffering under this regime is more than enough,” Joanna Cariño, co-chairperson of indigenous peoples’ group Sandugo, said.