Calabarzon militants call for end to Duterte rule

by  Dong de los Reyes July 3, 2021 BAYAN Southern Tagalog (ST) CALABARZON - Militant groups from the Calabarzon region led by BAYAN Southern...

by  Dong de los Reyes
July 3, 2021

BAYAN Southern Tagalog (ST)

CALABARZON - Militant groups from the Calabarzon region led by BAYAN Southern Tagalog (ST) converged at San Pedro, Laguna to condemn and call for an end to President Rodrigo Duterte's five years of tyranny-- the Duterte tenure ends on June 30, 2022.

The groups unfurled a mural depicting five years of atrocities and "insane inanities" inflicted on the nation by the Duterte regime.



"We have witnessed that Duterte will do everything to desperately hold on to power, and so it must be stopped. In the face of an impending investigation by the ICC and worsening poverty, hunger, and killings perpetrated mainly by state forces, the administration is desperate to maintain its hold in power," BAYAN-ST Spokesperson Casey Cruz said.

"At the expense of the Filipino people, Duterte has only positioned his cronies to various positions, riding whatever shallow economic growth they seek to gain from the Build, Build, Build program, while attempting to stifle the opposition and the regime's staunchest critics. Meanwhile, the COVID-19 pandemic has only been weaponized to prevent collective outrage from his defective leadership to pour onto the streets," she added.



Cruz noted that the Southern Tagalog region has been turned anew into a veritable killing field for state-sanctioned murders, primarily the Bloody Sunday massacre in the CALABARZON region, and countless more extrajudicial killings from the anti-insurgency and the anti-drug campaigns. Just last week, 16-year-old Johndy Maglinte and his companion Antonio Dalit were killed by police in Binan, Laguna, in an alleged police anti-drug operation. Meanwhile, peasant organizers Dana Marie Marcellana and Christian Relao were arrested on the early hours of June 25, on trumped-up charges of rebellion, kidnapping and illegal detention.

BAYAN-ST said Duterte continues to sell the country to foreign powers-- while China gets leniency from Duterte's weak defense of Filipino fishermen from incursions and attacks by Chinese ships on Philippine waters, Duterte begs for war materiel from the United States, receiving P182 million worth of guns and other weapons last June 22.



Cruz said that only by ending the Duterte regime could the Filipino people gain "justice and a reprieve from five years of institutionalized violence and state-sponsored death and hunger.

"We should stand united in prosecuting Duterte for his crimes against humanity. As we look forward to the 2022 elections, hundreds, possibly thousands more are vulnerable to the crosshairs of the regime and will not be with us in his last year. We cannot allow Duterte to exit silently, or hole up in power, if we are to pursue justice for the millions of Filipinos suffering today and in the coming days," Cruz said.