“Justice is really ours to achieve, as it did not take long for Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to show that his government will never pursue justice for victims of human rights violations. This government of the dictator’s son is a human rights violator of its own.”
Thus said rights groups Hustisya (Victims United for Justice) and Desaparecidos (Families of the Disappeared for Justice), as they marched at the forefront of protests today on December 10, International Human Rights Day.
“Justice is really ours to achieve, as it did not take long for Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to show that his government will never pursue justice for victims of human rights violations. This government of the dictator’s son is a human rights violator of its own.”
Thus said rights groups Hustisya (Victims United for Justice) and Desaparecidos (Families of the Disappeared for Justice), as they marched at the forefront of protests today on December 10, International Human Rights Day.
Among those who joined today’s rallies in different cities and towns nationwide are families of victims of Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody war on drugs, as well as relatives of killed, arrested and detained human rights defenders, majority of those red-tagged by the NTF ELCAC.
“We come together as families of victims from different regimes and presidents. As we endured the painful ordeal of victims and families of victims, we have made it a point that every International Human Rights Day, we call for justice, and commit to not allow the same violations to happen to others,” said Hustisya Chairperson Evangeline Hernandez.
This is why they condemn the Marcos Jr. government’s toll of victims in the first five months of its term, said Hustisya. According to Karapatan, there are now 17 documented victims of extrajudicial killings in the government’s counter-insurgency program since July 2022. The figure does not yet include those killed in the government’s war on drugs.
Meanwhile, Desaparecidos Vice Chairperson Isabel Batralo said that they are aware that human rights violations will continue, because “the human rights violators of the past regimes have all converged supporting Marcos Jr.”
“We are sickened of the fact that from the previous administrations, the likes of former National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon and former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, now a congressional representative, are still very much active in power and position, despite their record of human rights violations,” said Batralo.
Meanwhile, the group welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision to grant the petition for the writ of amparo for activists Ma. Elena Pampoza and Elgene Mungcal, who were believed to be abducted and disappeared by state agents on July 3, 2022 in the province of Tarlac.
“This is a partial victory for the families of victims of enforced disappearances, and we hope this will help shed light on the whereabouts of the two, who added up to the number of those missing from Marcos Sr. to Marcos Jr.,” said Batralo.
“As the Marcos Jr. government grows more and more callous every day, and continue to sow terror among the people, we appeal to the rest of the Filipino people to share our common desire for justice. As we have proven in the past, only through our united struggle shall we achieve justice,” ended Hernandez. #