With a few more months of endurance and fight-back, President Duterte’s presidency will already come to an end. All throughout his term, the Filipino people have been haunted by draconian orders — a seemingly six-year Halloween celebration of death and misery.
However, have you realized how we celebrate the month of November? In the beginning, we mourn, we lament, we remember those who have passed away. At month’s end, we commemorate, we recall, and we immortalize the great revolutionary who has zealously fought for the Filipino masses.
As you try to think about it deeper, the way we celebrate ‘All Souls’ Day’ and ‘Bonifacio Day’ does not only happen in November. It is a never-ending cycle of resiliency — the alpha and omega of November serve as a six-year mantra to combat the never-ending Halloween-- Duterte’s draconian order.
Looking back, the real Duterte legacies are enumerated as follows: anti-people and anti-human rights defenders legacies. Thus, as these perpetuate, genuine pro-people actions will be the only antidote to cease a monstrous president and his draconian orders.
𝑨𝒏𝒕𝒊-𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆
Extrajudicial killings became rampant as Duterte implemented his war on drugs through Oplan Tokhang. It was considered to be the best days of Duterte upon getting affirmation of killing small-time drug addicts while letting drug lords such as Peter Lim escape the country.
Way back 2016 to 2018, it seemed that the cycle was unending until Kian delos Santos’ killers were found guilty and sentenced to 40-year imprisonment. In June 2021, the International Criminal Court (ICC) formally sought an investigation into the Philippine government's deadly ‘war on drugs’ — a cup of hope among victims of extrajudicial killings.
𝑨𝒏𝒕𝒊-𝒉𝒖𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔 𝒅𝒆𝒇𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔
The Anti-Terror Bill has been fast-tracked and rail-roaded before it became a law amidst the pandemic. Executive Order No. 70 was signed in 2018, which created the National Task Force to End Local Communism and Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC). These controversial legacies of the Duterte regime are considered detrimental and have jeopardized the rights of those who criticize the mediocre governance of the current administration.
The first casualties of Anti-Terror Law were two Aeta Farmers. They were accused of being members of the New People’s Army (NPA) by the military. Their claim was debunked by Olongapo Court because of insufficient evidence. On the other hand, NTF-ELCAC, a controversial agency known for its endless red-tagging among progressive individuals and groups, has experienced budget cuts for the last term of Duterte, from the P28 billion budget, the senate panel only allotted P4 billion due to its failure to submit a report on how its task force spent last year’s budget of P19 billion.
The draconian orders built upon Duterte’s reign are gradually deteriorating. This six-year Halloween celebration already seems to fail, yet there is already another monstrous creature who awaits to replace his throne. Someone who was long groomed by Duterte–Marcos Jr and his daughter, Sara Duterte — and they are desperately crawling into position to live the legacy of their tyrant fathers and wicked families.
The politics of the Philippines seems like a never-ending Halloween, a bunch of overlaying evil who will reign for six years to haunt Filipinos until the end. However, this curse can still be reversed — it was proven by history that darkness always comes to an end as the light takes a peek and shines over the truth.
Only one thing is certain among this horror that has been haunting us since time immemorial will be out-thrown by people’s power and mass movement — the be-all and end-all to cease the power of these monstrous leaders and orders.
𝗘𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗼𝗿’𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗲: This was written a few hours before Sara Duterte announced her Vice Presidential bid.
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Written by: Jantzen Mengala and Deniel Flora
Layout and Design by: Kris Langcaon
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