Anti-Duterte groups in Europe launch alliance on ex-president’s 80th birthday

THE HAGUE—Critics of former President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday launched an alliance that seeks to organize efforts to prosecute people linked to the alleged abuses in his administration's war on drugs.

The Duterte Panagutin Europe Network, composed of anti-Duterte individuals and organizations based in the continent, gathered in The Hague and lit candles to mourn the thousands of victims of alleged extrajudicial killings.

The group's announcement coincided with the 80th birthday of the former president, who is currently in ICC custody while awaiting trial for crimes against humanity.

“Symbolic po itong araw dahil si Duterte, umabot ng 80 pero yung [mga] biktima ay hindi na po aabot [sa edad na ito]. Yung buhay ni Duterte na umabot sa 80 ay [pinahahalagahan ng] mga kapamilya [at] sumusuporta sa kanya. Pero siya mismo, hindi niya pinahalagahan yung buhay ng [mga] biktima,” said Mira Cruz-van Dijk, a relative of two alleged victims of the drug war.

“Lumalabas po talaga na napakaliit o halos walang pagpapahalaga sa buhay ng mga mahihirap yung rehimen o yung gobyerno ni Duterte. Makikita natin doon na kung sino lang yung mga nasa kapangyarihan, sila lang [yung] may karapatang mabuhay [at] umabot ng 80.''

(This day is symbolic because Duterte has lived up to 80 while the [alleged] victims will never reach this age. Duterte’s life is being celebrated by his family and supporters. But he has never valued the lives of the [alleged] victims. It appears that Duterte’s regime or government placed little or no value on the lives of the masses at all. We can see that whoever is in power only has the right to live and reach up to 80.)

The alliance’s convenor, Patricia Enriquez, said the candles they lit also symbolize hope and “continuing call for accountability.”

“We call upon all Filipinos and solidarity allies in Europe, especially those who believe in the principles of justice and human dignity, to join us in this fight. The truth cannot be silenced, and justice should not be delayed,” added Lean Jimenez of Bayan Europe.

Joey Sison, convenor of the Duterte Panagutin Network Germany, said that Duterte’s arrest “is not the end of our struggle.”

“True justice means disarming, dismantling the entire system of impunity that enabled these atrocities to happen,” he said.

“We will not allow Duterte’s allies to rewrite history and erase the truth about the 30,000 lives lost in the drug war. We will not forget the journalists, human rights activists, student leaders, women leaders, teachers, community organizers, peasants, and union leaders who were violently killed or forcibly disappeared. Rodrigo Duterte, the Marcos regime, and their neighbors in the government must be held accountable for all crimes they have committed against the Filipino people.”

Call for the Marcos admin

The group also called on the Marcos administration to resume engaging with the ICC. The current government has insisted it will not cooperate with the ICC, as the Philippines already left the tribunal in 2019.

“We call on the government of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to take necessary steps to ensure accountability and re-engage with the International Criminal Court. We call on the ICC and other international bodies to exact justice for all victims and convict the cohorts for the extrajudicial killings under [Duterte’s] regime,” Jimenez said.

Meanwhile, a Netherlands-based Filipino artist unveiled a painting to remind the public about ''Duterte's reign of terror.''

“This bloodied, cheap plastic chair is my symbol of the poor communities that were most vulnerable in Duterte's extrajudicial killings,” artist Victor Cantal said of his painting, titled ''The Theater of Terror.''

“This painting is a reminder that Duterte’s reign of terror was not a distant past but a present horror that disinformation is trying to revive.”

Duterte in a speech in Hong Kong on March 9 said his actions when he was president were meant to ensure peace and order in the country.

He had previously vowed to take ''full legal responsibility'' for the police's execution of his anti-drug campaign.  —VBL, GMA Integrated News