American victim of Duterte’s crimes against humanity calls for justice

As published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer

The arrest of former Philippine President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s arrest is a big step towards justice for the thousands of victims. We know that his arrest is the product of filipino people’s collective struggle for accountability and justice. Let there be no mistake!  The international community will be closely watching! The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines [ICHRP] will continue to support the Filipino people demand for justice and accountability from Duterte and all his cronies in the government, military and police.

As a victim of a botched assassination attempt, Duterte's arrest is deeply personal to me as one of over 30k victims of his bloody regime.  I am ELATED and celebrate his arrest with millions of Filipinos. While the world knows about the atrocities of his war on drugs which is really a war on the poor, under Duterte’s regime there were also a lot of killings of civilians and revolutionaries from his counterinsurgency plan which violated human rights and international humanitarian law. From my experience many of the violations and killings happened in the rural areas and especially indigenous and impoverished communities to permanently silence the people defending their land and livelihood. 

Duterte’s crackdown on dissent is eerily similar to his crackdown On his war on drugs against the poor. His shoot to kill order did not just target suspected drug users, he targeted activists too. The attack on my life caused severe trauma to me and my family. 

Duterte’s lesser known war on dissent, especially in the countryside of the Philippines, that terrorized thousands of rural poor peasants and farmers, needs to also be scrutinized under a microscope and put on trial. I documented the human rights violations and abuses of the Philippine military in Ifugao. The Philippine military raped indigenous minors. They threatened, harassed, intimidated, and placed community leaders under surveillance for opposing, criticizing government programs and policies. They forced many indigenous people and peasants to surrender as NPA rebels. They bombed, strafed, and militarized communities. They dropped the international restricted bomb, white phosphorus in the indigenous communal forest in the province of Abra (2017) and most recently in Kalinga in (2023). They red tagged us as communist terrorist and when that did not deter our organizing work, they attempt to silence us as they did to Ricardo Mayumi, an indigenous leader in Ifugao killed for defending his community from being dammed.

Duterte is now begging for people's sympathy as an 80 year old man in custody. But the victims of Duterte and their families were given no sympathy. He ordered the murder of sick and elderly activists including 71 year old peace consultant Randy Echanis who was ruthlessly tortured and stabbed to death by state agents in his own apartment, unable to defend himself. Under Duterte 442 were extrajudicially killed.

The United States government bares responsibility as well. The bullets that are used the counterinsurgency operations and that are still embedded in my body were most likely paid by our tax dollars. In his presidency, Duterte was the #1 human rights violator enabled by the United States government through funding, training, arming of the Philippine military and police in its bloody counterinsurgency plan which continues today under Bong Bong Marcos, the son of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

Duterte’s failed economic policy of build build build which led to kill kill kill.  He welcomed multinational corporations (mining, dams, and plantations) that threatened the environment, displaced the indigenous and rural communities and sought to silence anyone who resisted.  This is still happening under Marcos jr.

I testified at the International People's Tribunal which found both Duterte and current President Marcos, and President Biden guilty of war crimes and violations of international humanitarian law.

Duterte must now pay the price and be prosecuted to the fullest extent of international law. Despite his crimes, he continues to enjoy privileges, unlike those who were violently arrested, tortured, and detained in inhumane conditions under his regime. While victims suffer, Duterte remains free from the same suffering he inflicted upon countless victims – even today, after his arrest. 

Let us not also forget that the present Marcos administration is no different from the Duterte. In fact, Indigenous people under the current administration are experiencing worse human rights violations with the weaponization of the Anti-Terrorism Law and Terrorist Financing Prevention and Suppression Act against Indigenous activists, and the upsurge of destructive mining and energy projects in their lands.

This should only be the beginning. 𝗪𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘃𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗺𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗗𝘂𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗲’𝘀 𝗯𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗱𝘆 𝗱𝗿𝘂𝗴 𝘄𝗮𝗿, 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗮𝗿 𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗮𝗰𝗸𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘀, 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘀𝘁𝘀. 𝗪𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀—𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 po𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗲—𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲, 𝗮𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗼𝘀 𝗝𝗿. 𝗮𝗱𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗲𝘀 𝗗𝘂𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗲’𝘀 𝘁𝘆𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗿𝘂𝗹𝗲 including EO 70 which established the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict and the Anti Terror Act of 2020. Let us continue to demand that the U.S. stop funding the military and police in the Philippines who are committing atrocities!

𝗝𝗨𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗖𝗘 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗔𝗟𝗟 human rights defenders 𝗞𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗘𝗗 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗘𝗖𝗨𝗧𝗘𝗗 𝗨𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗥 𝗗𝗨𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗧𝗘’𝗦 𝗥𝗘𝗚𝗜𝗠𝗘!  

𝗝𝗨𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗖𝗘 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗔𝗟𝗟 𝗩𝗜𝗖𝗧𝗜𝗠𝗦 𝗢𝗙 𝗗𝗨𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗧𝗘’𝗦 𝗗𝗥𝗨𝗚 𝗪𝗔𝗥!  

Stop US Backed War Crimes!

𝗛𝗢𝗟𝗗 𝗗𝗨𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗧𝗘 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗔𝗖𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗣𝗟𝗜𝗖𝗘𝗦 𝗔𝗖𝗖𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗧𝗔𝗕𝗟𝗘!  

𝗘𝗡𝗗 𝗜𝗠𝗣𝗨𝗡𝗜𝗧𝗬 𝗡𝗢𝗪!