Two years into the Duterte administration, the country sinks deeper into a quagmire of impunity, misogyny and authoritarianism.
We demand justice for the victims of state-sanctioned and state-tolerated killings.
We deplore the corruption scandals surrounding President Duterte’s appointees.
We condemn his misogynist and sexist rhetoric inciting hostility and violence against women.
Mr. Duterte’s dogged persecution and discreditation of his female critics, including his attacks against Sister Patricia Fox, reflect his antiwomen stance and put at risk all progress made by women and human rights groups.
We are living in a culture of women-hating and sexism that normalizes discrimination and violence against women, and pushes women’s issues, especially the marginalized, into the periphery, rendering us invisible.
Rather than move forward to a gender-equal Philippines, Mr. Duterte would have us step back to a society that breeds patriarchy and machismo, and promotes inequality and violence.
We will continue to expose Mr. Duterte’s misogyny in this period of authoritarianism. We do not tolerate an environment that perpetuates a culture of hate against women and condones the killings.
#WomenResist
#BabaeAko
WOMEN’S LEGAL AND HUMAN RIGHTS BUREAU, Quezon City