On Saturday, hundreds of people demonstrated against what they said to be an increase in extrajudicial executions and other injustices occurring while President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. was in office.
To seek justice for the victims, the demonstrators marched toward the presidential palace from a public area in Manila under the direction of a rights organization with roots in the Philippines. The protest, which took place on International Human Rights Day, drew, according to the police, about 800 people.
Cristina Palabay of the rights group Karapatan said under the Marcos administration’s counterinsurgency campaign, the group has documented at least 17 cases of extrajudicial killings in addition to four other incidents of violence where victims survived.
The number of political prisoners continues to rise, with 828 detained as of Nov. 30, Palabay said, noting that at least 25 of them were arrested after Marcos took office in June.
“Despite these sordid figures there has been zero justice for the victims of extrajudicial killings,” Palabay said in a statement. “The culture of impunity continues to rear its ugly head.”
Organizers said protesters in Manila and other parts of the country included families of activists who disappeared or were tortured during the administration of Marcos’ father and namesake, ousted dictator Ferdinand Marcos, as well as human rights victims under former President Rodrigo Duterte, whose brutal war on drugs is under investigation by the International Criminal Court after leaving thousands dead.
The dictator was ousted in an army-backed “People Power” revolt in 1986 and died three years later in exile in the U.S. without admitting any wrongdoing, including accusations that he, his family and other associates amassed an estimated $5 billion to $10 billion while he was in power.
“We come together as families of victims from different regimes and presidents. … We have made it a point that every International Human Rights Day we call for justice and commit to not allow the same violations to happen to others,” said Evangeline Hernandez, chairperson of a human rights victims group.
Karapatan said the current administration is also increasing the use of anti-terror laws to suppress dissent and curtailing freedom of expression and association.
The U.N. Human Rights Council has urged the Marcos administration to address the killings and other rights abuses.
The government has said it is committed to protecting human rights, citing reforms in the country’s judicial system.
Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla, in a speech last month in Geneva before the Human Rights Council, dismissed allegations that there is a culture of impunity in the Philippines. He said the government will not tolerate the denial of justice or the violation of rights.
Also coinciding with International Human Rights Day, journalist Maria Ressa, one of the winners of the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize, launched in Manila her memoir “How to Stand Up to a Dictator: The Fight for Our Future.”
“It is a time when we are seeing our rights eroded globally, where you are seeing a shift away from democracy to … fascism and it’s time for us to hold the line so this is what we did today,” she told The Associated Press.
In connection with Rappler’s reporting on the drug war killings and suspected government-sponsored disinformation networks, Duterte’s administration and his allies have filed a number of criminal complaints against the website’s co-founder.
Her book raises alarms about the growth of authoritarianism in the Philippines and other countries, which she accuses social media corporations of helping to facilitate through their business structures and algorithmic practices.
“It’s not a coincidence that you witness a loss of democracy globally when lies propagate quicker than truth,” Ressa remarked. “We won’t be able to fix any issues unless we find a way to stop the corruption in our information eco system. In reality, democracy is in danger.”
