Partido Lakas ng Masa (Party of the Labouring Masses, the Philippines): After the ICC’s arrest of former President Duterte
We have achieved a win with former President Rodrigo Duterte’s arrest and surrender to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to face trial for his crimes against humanity. His arrest by the Philippine government is a product of the human rights movement, social movements and progressive individuals, who work hard to win justice for the victims of Duterte’s “war on drugs”.
We commend the ICC for the arrest and trial. It comes as the first grind of justice after the Philippine judicial system failed miserably to file charges against the mastermind and main perpetrators of these deadly crimes against the people.
We hope the ICC will also be able to put on trial in The Hague the others involved in these deadly crimes, as recorded by the ICC charge sheet — from Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa to former Philippine National Police chief Oscar Albayalde.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has ordered the assistance of Philippine police and authorities for the arrest of Duterte, but the Philippine government has yet to clarify its views regarding the charges of crimes against humanity against Duterte and his criminal allies.
We demand that the Marcos Jr government rescind and end all the bloody and murderous policies in pursuance of the war on drugs and dismantle all the tyrannical machinery involved in these heinous crimes. We demand the following:
Disband Oplan Double Barrel, Duterte’s marching order to the police to implement the war on drugs. The killings have not stopped, even under the current administration. Human Rights Watch records 841 drug-related killings since Marcos Jr assumed the presidency in 2022.
Rescind the Anti-Terror Law passed under the Duterte administration in 2020, which legalises unjust arrests and suppression of legitimate dissent.
Dismantle the NTF-Elcac (National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict), created by the Duterte administration in 2018, which is engaged in red-tagging activists, journalists and government critics and identifying them as terrorists.
Compensate the families of the victims of the extrajudicial killings, which number as many as 6200 individuals killed according to government reports and up to 30,000 individuals according to reports by several human rights organisations.
So far, Marcos Jr has only stated his government’s assistance to Duterte’s arrest through Interpol. Marcos Jr has to show that the arrest is not merely a part of the power struggle between two powerful clans in the lead up to the presidential election in 2028, but the start of the people's pursuit for justice.
In that case, Marcos Jr should start by dismantling all the bloody and fascistic policies and machinery set up by the Duterte regime.