Karapatan called on the public to reject senatorial candidates who have been rabidly advancing the self-serving and corrupt interests of the Marcos and Duterte cliques and elect progressive candidates and partylist groups with proven track records of standing for the people’s democratic interests.
The human rights alliance viewed with alarm recent survey results showing that among the leading senatorial candidates are personalities strongly linked to or have ardently supported Rodrigo Duterte’s fascist schemes and Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s anti-people policies, that have both spearheaded legislation that struck serious blows against civil and political rights or are involved in projects that have been “sucking the people dry.”
Among these personalities are Imee Marcos, Bato dela Rosa, Bong Go, Ping Lacson, Rodante Marcoleta, Camille Villar and Philip Salvador.
“These candidates must not be elected to the Senate where they will have the opportunity to run roughshod on the people’s rights and interests the way they have done in the past,” said Atty. Maria Sol Taule, KARAPATAN deputy secretary general.
“Imee Marcos has pursued her family’s interests as well as that of the Dutertes, in the last decade. She has yet to be made accountable for the crimes she and her family committed during the Marcos dictatorship, as she and her family continue to keep the ill-gotten wealth they plundered from the country’s coffers. She recently led a so-called Senate inquiry into Duterte’s arrest by the International Criminal Court, which was nothing but an ill-disguised maneuver to declare the arrest illegal,” said Taule. “In one fell swoop, she whitewashed Duterte’s accountability for the tens of thousands of drug war killings.”
“Bato dela Rosa was the implementer of Oplan Tokhang, while Bong Go was the bagman who reportedly disbursed rewards to the Duterte death squads. Both have supported Duterte’s various fascist schemes, including those that resulted in the killings of human rights defenders and civilians,” she added. “Meanwhile, Phillip Salvador has issued statements strongly supporting Duterte’s drug war. He infamously berated Duterte critics in 2019, saying “Mamatay kayong lahat” (drop dead). Sensing the rising sentiments against the drug killings, he has opportunistically backpedalled, now saying he favors rehabilitation for drug users.
“Ping Lacson has gone down in history as the principal author of the severely repressive Anti-Terrorism Act of 2022, which is now being weaponized to the hilt by the Marcos Jr. regime to persecute activists, human rights defenders and other dissenters. During his stint at the Philippine Constabulary Metropolitan Command (Metrocom)’s Intelligence and Security Group (MISG) under Marcos’ martial law and, afterwards, as a police official , he was notoriously known as a torturer of prisoners ,” said Taule.
“Rodante Marcoleta deliberately spread disinformation on supposed violations committed by media giant ABS-CBN and led efforts at the House of Representatives to deny the renewal of its franchise,” she said. “Marcoleta was obsequiously following Duterte’s orders to shut down ABS-CBN for its hard-hitting reports against his regime.”
“And let us not forget Camille Villar, whose family’s multibillion-peso real estate business is involved in several landgrabbing cases and is now likewise notorious for its company PrimeWater’s poor but overpriced service.”
“All these personalities, some are members of political dynasties, are repugnant for applauding or keeping silent in the face of the horrendous killings and other human rights violations under Duterte’s drug war and the brutal counter-insurgency campaign that has gone on without letup under the Duterte and Marcos regimes,” said Taule. “They have disregarded people’s fundamental rights, especially the freedom of expression and association, the freedom to organize and express dissent,” she added. “They burden the people with their adherence to the bankrupt neoliberal policies that have impoverished our country for decades and their insatiable greed for profit.”
“On the other hand, we call on the electorate to vote for progressives who will truly represent their interests and advance their welfare,” she exhorted. “These are candidates who have championed the cause of human rights and just peace, decent wages for the working people, affordable goods and social services and an independent and peace-loving foreign policy that rejects the hegemony of US imperialism and other foreign powers and considers the Filipino people’s interests above all,” she concluded.