Duterte urged, ‘go back to progressive ideas’

Migrante Aotearoa and Philippines Solidarity groups in New Zealand are troubled by President Duterte’s declaration of martial law in Mindanao.

We share the President’s outrage at the antipeople attack launched by the Maute group on Marawi. However, Marawi is only a small area of Mindanao. The martial law declaration is for all of Mindanao where, for the record, the Armed Forces of the Philippines and their paramilitary groups have committed abuses in recent years against ordinary civilians, trade unionists, peasants and lumad communities resisting landgrabbing by oligarchs and big landlords.

By declaring martial law and suspending the writ of habeas corpus, Mr. Duterte has given the AFP a free hand to commit human rights abuses in the whole of Mindanao against those with absolutely no connection to the Maute group or other terrorist organizations.

In Compostela Valley, which is more than eight hours drive away from Marawi, AFP troops recently attempted to break up a strike at the Shin Sun Tropical Fruit company staged by workers demanding an end to contractualization. Ending contractualization was an early promise of the Duterte administration—a promise we we have yet to see fulfilled.

According to Karapatan, a couple from a peasant organization were arrested by soldiers and the Bagani force paramilitary in Laak, Compostela Valley. Mr. Duterte’s statement to the media—“Martial law is martial law. It will not be any different from what President Marcos did”—is very worrying, considering the horrific abuses committed against innocent people by the police and military during the Marcos martial law period.

The President’s threats to extend martial law to cover the Visayas or the entire country also give the impression that this administration is now under the control of militarists who know only violent solutions to complex, longstanding social problems.

We urge the Duterte administration to lift martial law and end human rights abuses. Likewise we believe Mr. Duterte should go back to some of the progressive ideas from the early part of his administration, including resuming peace talks with the National Democratic Front, rather than supporting a solely military solution to every conflict.

HELEN TE HIRA, convener, Auckland Philippines Solidarity, MURRAY HORTON, secretary, Philippines Solidarity Network of Aotearoa, MICHAEL SANTOS, spokesperson, Migrante Aotearoa