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Duterte remains the driving force behind unabated killings, human rights abuses — De Lima
Duterte remains the driving force behind unabated killings, human rights abuses — De Lima
Opposition Senator Leila de Lima on Friday maintained that President Duterte is the driving force behind the unabated spate of killings and human rights abuses in the country because he continues to promote a culture of violence and impunity.
(JANSEN ROMERO / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)
“The stark truth stares at us: No one else to blame for the killing spree (of drug suspects, lawyers, former and incumbent LGU officials, media practitioners, non-combatant activists and HRDs), but Duterte himself,” De Lima said in her latest statement.
“He’s the instigator or driving force behind the spate of violence and assassinations unparalleled in modern PH history,” the senator further said.
De Lima, a staunch critic of the Duterte administration, recently blamed the President for the killing of nine individuals believed to be with activist groups in Southern Tagalog last March 7, and the recent release of a video showing a policeman allegedly planting evidence on a slain drug suspect.
The detained senator said the fact about the President being the instigator of these killings is “the most crucial, damning fact that the Guevarra report to the UNHRC chose to gloss over, if not conceal.” Last Feb. 24, Department of Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra told the United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) that more than half of thousands of anti-drug operations launched by police under the Duterte administration failed to comply with rules of engagement and protocol.
But De Lima noted that in his report, he failed to address Duterte’s accountability in relation to the government’s drug war.
“Tigilan na nila ang pagbubulagbulagan at pagkukunwari. Harapin ang katotohanan! (They should stop turning a blind eye and all the pretense. They should face up to the truth),” she added, referring to Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Menardo Guevarra.
“Whether it’s drugs, insurgency, COVID-19 or poverty, he (Duterte), indeed, governs through violence and killings. 2016 pa lang, pumapatay na ang rehimeng ito (since 2016, this regime is already killing),” she said.
“Duterte’s latest marching order is just a reiteration and a reminder of his long-standing policy of brutally eliminating perceived enemies,” she reiterated.