Call to Action on December 10, International Human Rights Day

The threat of a Duterte dictatorship has become more real and dangerous than ever. The past few days have seen President Duterte turning up the volume on his worst side as a war monger and fascist. - He has slammed the door on the peace talks with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) and tagged them as a terrorist group, ordering intensified military operations and a crackdown on activists and all those he believes are conspiring against him. - In Mindanao, he has warned of more attacks from suspected ISIS terrorists, providing the pretext to further extend martial law over a third of the country. - He has reinstated the Philippine National Police (PNP) at the forefront of the anti-illegal drug campaign and renewed his verbal attacks on human rights defenders and watchdogs who have criticized his murderous “war on drugs." - In Congress, efforts are in full swing to impeach Supreme Court Chief Justice Lourdes Sereno, even as the threat of a similar impeachment hangs over the head of Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales. - Duterte and his minions, including his troll and social media army, have been relentless in attacking and intimidating individuals, groups, and institutions that serve as checks and balances on government. Victims of this violence include the opposition, civil society groups, the press, and ordinary citizens expressing their views on social media. The final push for Duterte's dictatorship is the establishment of a “revolutionary government” to arrogate unto himself absolute power over the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government, including the constitutional commissions and LGUs. Duterte has repeatedly threatened to take this unconstitutional step in response to his own exaggerated claims of a conspiracy to topple his government. The blueprint for his one-man-rule is also insidiously contained in the proposal to shift to a federal system of government via charter change, to be passed by Duterte's supermajority in Congress sitting as a constituent assembly. THE WHEELS OF TYRANNY ARE TURNING. Unless we stop it, Duterte’s fascist dictatorship will be upon us in no time. WE CALL ON ALL FREEDOM-LOVING FILIPINOS TO ACT NOW AND REJECT DUTERTE'S LOOMING DICTATORSHIP. Our people’s long and arduous struggle for freedom and democracy, respect for human rights, and a lasting peace based on justice, cannot be achieved by desecrating the very aspirations that we aim to achieve. On December 10, International Human Rights Day, let us gather as one at the Luneta Park at 4:00PM to say: NO to dictatorship, YES to democracy! NO to extrajudicial killings and inhumanity, YES to human rights and dignity! NO to all-out war, YES to a just and lasting peace!