Martial law survivors slam Duterte, Marcos bids for the 2022 elections

The Campaign Against the Return of the Marcoses and Martial Law (CARMMA) sounded off the call “#NoDuterteMarcos2020” on September 11, birthday of the deceased dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr. and days after President Rodrigo Duterte accepted the vice presidential nomination of Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan for the May 2022 national elections.

“The current machinations of Duterte and Marcos geared towards running for national elective posts in next year’s elections are an affront to our collective national history,” said CARMMA Convenor Prof. Judy Taguiwalo in an online press conference.

Martial law survivors under the Samahan ng Ex-Detainees Laban sa Detensyon at Aresto (SELDA) also slammed Bongbong Marcos’ plan to seek the presidency, calling it “delusional.”

“If he formally files his candidacy, we won’t hesitate to campaign against him. We cannot allow a sore loser and a dictator’s despicable son to run this country,” said Danilo dela Fuente, SELDA’s national vice chairperson and group’s spokesperson.

The late dictator’s son lost his bid for vice presidency in the 2016 elections. He also lost his poll protest against Vice President Leni Robredo.

In the past, Duterte has said repeatedly that if Bongbong won as vice president, he would step down and concede the presidency to the late dictator’s son.

SELDA also reminded the nation to “reject all forms of Marcosian tactics and historical lies” on the late dictator’s birth anniversary.

“It is with utmost rage and condemnation that we remember this day. For us who were among those who challenged his fascist reign, Marcos’s birth date reminds us of the countless human rights violations and massive plunder that his regime had committed,” said Dela Fuente.

SELDA said thousands of Filipinos had been illegally arrested, detained, tortured, killed, and forcibly disappeared during Marcos’ regime.

“The nation’s coffers were also emptied and the national debt ballooned due to his family’s lavish lifestyle and his cronies’ corruption. His evil shadow still haunts us to this day,” added Dela Fuente.

Dela Fuente also said that they would never forget how the present administration has shown its Marcos fanaticism by supporting the Marcoses and allowing the corpse of the late dictator to be given a hero’s burial. Duterte’s own administration, he said, is nothing short of a ‘Marcosian rule.’

Worsening state of human rights violations, the ongoing spate of killings, outward red-tagging spree, and trillions of debt worsening the state of the economy are also happening in the present, but this time during the pandemic or as a result of poor pandemic response, he said.

“We are a people who have suffered under a despot who, with his family and cronies, plundered our nation’s coffers, raped our natural resources and dragged the people into poverty. This is Marcos’ legacy. And Duterte – a showman and braggart – is following this Marcos legacy with impudence,” said Taguiwalo.

CARMMA called for a nationwide protest action on September 21, which will mark 49 years after the imposition of Marcos’ martial law. The group also encouraged the public to be vigilant as the filing of certificates of candidacies start on October 1.

Taguiwalo was joined in the online event by former Representatives Neri Colmenares and Erin Tanada, film directors and freedom of expression advocates Joel Lamangan and Bonifacio Ilagan, former ARMM Vice Governor Haroun Alrashid Alonto Lucman, Mother Mary John Mananzan, OSB, journalist and poet Kris Lanot Lacaba, indigenous people’s leader Joanna Carino, and youth leaders Heather Andres and Cheska Persia.

“We will never accept a repeat of such regimes, which will be made worse with a Duterte-Marcos tandem in the 2022 elections. We call on all freedom-loving Filipinos to vigorously reject, campaign and vote against them and to continue to demand accountability from them,” Taguiwalo said.