Thousands of Human Rights Advocates and leftist activists took to the streets in the Philippine Capital on Monday to denounce President Rodrigo Duterte and his administration for “a succession of anti-people policies.’’
The demonstrators marched towards the presidential palace in Manila, where they burned a 4-metre effigy depicting Duterte as a red-eyed beast while chanting anti-government slogans.
They carried placards demanding an end to killings triggered by Duterte’s aggressive war on drugs, which has left nearly 5,000 people dead, according to police statistics.
“The Duterte regime is a government that willfully violates people’s rights,’’ said Cristina Palabay, secretary general of Karapatan, a Philippine human rights organisation.
“The Duterte regime has implemented a succession of anti-people policies, and it has claimed the lives of thousands of Filipinos who were stripped of their fundamental rights,’’ she added.
Opposition Senator Risa Hontiveros said Duterte has become “the single biggest threat to human rights’’ in the Philippines.
“The president has single-handedly rolled back human rights safeguards and made the country a haven for human rights violators,’’ she said. “I call on the people to push back and stand up against the threat to our human rights.’’
The Duterte administration rejected the criticism, saying it has advanced rights by “protecting human lives, uplifting human dignity and advancing people’s progress.’’
“To protect the lives of the innocent law-abiding citizens of the country, this administration remains unrelenting in its crusade against criminality, corruption, terrorism, insurgency and the proliferation of illegal drugs,’’ said Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea. (dpa/NAN)
