Protestors hold mock hammers with words 'No Hero' in
front of a portrait of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos as they denounce his
burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani (Heroes' cemetery) during a protest
outside the presidential palace in metro Manila, Philippines November 22, 2016.
REUTERS/Romeo Ranoco - RTSSQLS
Philippine
President Rodrigo Duterte's critics fear he aims to emulate the suppression
that defined former dictator Ferdinand Marcos' harsh rule
Last
Friday’s arrest of a Philippine senator who has been the leading voice against
President Rodrigo Duterte’s unrelenting campaign against drugs was meant to
stifle political dissent to his seven-month old regime, and it is only the
beginning, analysts say.
Senator
Leila de Lima’s dramatic fall from grace came on the heels of a sworn testimony
of a former police officer who broke his silence on Duterte’s alleged “death
squad”, months after denying its existence.
Police
officer Arthur Lascanas confessed to leading the death squad which operated in
the southern city of Davao, and directly taking orders from Duterte to kill
petty criminals and drug dealers first and political opponents later.
“The rash
imprisonment of Senator Leila is blatantly political persecution,” said Etta
Rosales, a former head of the Commission on Human Rights, who was among the
first people to visit de Lima’s detention cell inside Manila’s main police camp
at the weekend.
Rosales,
77, who was jailed and tortured during the repressive Martial Law regime of
former dictator Ferdinand Marcos, described the senator in good spirits,
despite being locked away in a small cell which can only be reached after going
through an “endless labyrinth” of narrow, cemented corridors.
She
recalled that Mr. Duterte had said as early as last year about de Lima that he
would be “killing her softly” in court after accusing the senator of going
after him when she headed the government’s rights commission and justice
ministry.
“It is quite apparent that he sees nothing
wrong in using the powers of his office to get back at a person who he feels
has shamed him when he was mayor,” Rosales said. “He sees nothing wrong in
using these powers to get back at another public official for personal
vengeance.” Rosales said de Lima was right when she insisted that the president
be held “accountable” for past rights abuses.
“On
recorded actual killings, Duterte beats Marcos,” she said. “His administration
allowed for 7,000 plus killings in seven months while recorded killings under
Marcos was over 3,000 during 14 years of martial rule.”
Ironically,
Duterte is a known political ally of the Marcos family, whom he has publicly
credited for contributing to his campaign for the presidency last year. One of
his first official acts was to rebury Marcos as a hero, touching off massive
protests. He has also publicly supported ex-senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr, the
son and namesake of his idol who lost the vice presidency last year.
The dictator’s
two decade regime was ended by a “people power” revolt that forced Marcos into
exile in Hawaii 31 years ago last Saturday. His family, however, was
subsequently allowed to return home, where they have slowly rebuilt their
political fortunes.
“I have
always suspected Duterte to be enamored of the character of Marcos. I
suspect him to genuinely admire Marcos, the macho leader during his time.
He made a hero of Marcos by burying him in a hero’s cemetery,” Rosales said.
Senator
Risa Hontiveros, a former Leftist activist, said the arrest was “outright
political persecution” and a travesty of justice. “It is a throwback to an
authoritarian past. It highlights the slow death of our democracy and rule of
law,” she said.
“This
sets a dangerous precedent for the government to arrest and incarcerate
individuals that it perceives as its enemies, on the basis only of mere
allegations and without due process,” Hontiveros said.
“By
stopping at nothing to persecute Senator Leila, the state sends a chilling
message to all–political dissent under this administration will not be
tolerated. All those who will oppose will be destroyed,” Hontiveros said.
Until
last week, de Lima has been the fiercest opponent of the government’s drugs
crackdown, which has left over 7,000 users and dealers since last year,
including those killed by vigilantes.
De Lima
spearheaded a Senate panel last year that investigated the killings and heard
the testimony from a self-described hit man, Edgar Matobato, who claimed to be
part of the Duterte’s death squad. An incensed Duterte rallied his allies in
the Senate and ousted de Lima as chairwoman of the investigation panel.
His
allies soon after held Congressional hearings at which imprisoned drug kingpins
testified that they had given de Lima bribes through her driver and bodyguard,
with whom she had a romantic past.
The
testimonies at the hearings were used as the basis of charges filed against de
Lima and spearheaded by Duterte’s fraternity brother, Justice Secretary
Vitaliano Aguirre, who alleged that the senator used the drug money to fund her
senatorial campaign last year.
Responding
to the accusation, a defiant de Lima said her arrest was an “an appalling sign
of the return of a power-hungry, morally bankrupt and abusive government.”
“From the
very beginning, I knew that this regime would not seek true justice. The filing
of criminal cases against me is only the fulfillment of Mr. Duterte’s fixation
for revenge against me, because of my investigation of the Davao Death Squad when
I was then the Chairperson of the Commission on Human Rights,” she said in a
statement.
“We all
know now that every action of the President has no clear basis. He does it on a
whim. Not because it is right or wrong, but because he can do it, and we are letting
him. This is impunity. Whatever he does, he is confident that he is free from
any punishment,” she said.
With her
arrest, de Lima said Duterte was effectively trying to derail the public
testimonies of his former henchman, whose testimonies she said have unmasked
the president as a “murderer and a sociopathic serial killer.”
Responding
to de Lima’s arrest for the first time on Monday, Duterte said he would leave
it to the court to decide “who is lying and who is not.” He said those
criticizing the government’s drug war, had nothing to fear “unless you are
involved in drugs, you should be.”
He
assured de Lima’s safety while in detention, saying: “I think people are
interested not to see her dead but to see her in prison for what she did.” But
he also said he would not deny that “hundreds of criminals” died in Davao City
during his term.
Senator
Antonio Trillanes, a de Lima ally and a former soldier who once helped launch a
failed rebellion against the government, said the arrest was clearly meant to
“send a chilling message to the political opposition and critics that they
could be next.”
“Well,
the effect to me is exactly the opposite. I am now motivated more than ever to
expose him for being a plunderer and mass murderer that he truly is,” he said.
Asia
Times
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