Youth group Anakbayan today afternoon joins other sectors in a protest march to Mendiola to register strong opposition to the Duterte regime’s imposition of Martial Law in Mindanao and threats of extending military rule over the entire nation.
Hundreds marched today from the University of Santo Tomas in España. Manila to the gates of the Presidential Palace in the historic Mendiola bridge to call for the immediate lifting of Martial Law in Mindanao.
“Martial Law in Mindanao shows that Duterte’s past threats and jokes about military rule is serious. The Filipino people must not underestimate Duterte’s threat to extend Martial Law nationwide and remain vigilant against all threats to civil liberties and democratic rights,” said Anakbayan National Chairperson Vencer Crisostomo.
The youth group demands the immediate lifting of Martial Law, which will be administered by notorious human rights violator Gen. Eduardo Ano and which now imposes warrantless arrests, curfews, checkpoints, and other constraints on the civil rights of people across the island of Mindanao.
“By boasting that Martial Law will be as harsh as the Marcos dictatorship, Duterte has given a go-signal for the AFP to intensify military abuses and human rights violations such as extrajudicial killings, abductions, torture, indiscriminate aerial and artillery bombardments, and militarization of communities,” said Crisostomo.
Even without Martial Law, the group said Duterte’s brutal all-out war has trampled on the rights of Lumad, peasants, and workers fighting resisting land grabbing, destructive mining, and militarization. Anakbayan warned that Martial Law only authorizes military and police forces to carry out even more blatant human rights violations with impunity
“With his plans of imposing Martial Law, Duterte has completely shed off his pro-people posturing and unmasked his increasing reliance on state violence and fascism to prop up his rule. Coupled with the appointment of more military officials in his cabinet, this has reduced the window for progressive reforms under his regime,” said Crisostomo.
Anakbayan said massive protest actions are in store in the coming days to oppose Martial Law in Mindanao and the rest of the Philippines. The youth group called on the Filipino youth and people to mount bigger protests to assert their democratic rights against the threat of open fascist rule across the country.