Before all else, the National Democratic Front (NDF)-Negros expresses its solidarity to the victims of extrajudicial killings perpetrated by the fascist regimes especially during the term of former President Rodrigo Duterte. We firmly stand with the victims’ families in clamoring for justice and demand that Duterte be made accountable of his crimes of extrajudicial killings and of his bogus ‘war on drugs’.

For years, the vitims’ cases have been neglected. A few made it to court, but eventually were found trashed in the bin. Nonetheless, the collective effort of the Filipino people bears fruitful consequences as Duterte was brought to the Senate blue ribbon committee and the recent House Quad committee hearings.

During these hearings, Duterte claimed he was the chief strategist of the anti-drug campaign which took over 30,000 lives. Majority of them were civilians victimized by the hit list and bounty system encouraged by Duterte himself. To justify these killings, the ‘nanlaban’ narrative was made, putting the blame on the victims.

Along with the crime upsurge of Duterte’s drug war, summary executions and illegal arrests of political activists, peasant leaders, lawyers, human rights workers among others have spiked up. The Synchronized Enhanced Managing of Police Operations (SEMPO), a so-called “one time-big time” operation which was designed to be the reactionary government’s efforts in battling illegal drugs were instead used against suspected NPA sympathizers in Negros island. The infamous Oplan Sauron 1 and 2 incited massacres executed by Duterte’s henchman, Debold Sinas who was the Police Region VII Office (PRO-7) chief at that time, which killed 20 farmers and arrested more than 50 individuals. Nine farmworkers were also massacred in Sagay, Negros Occidental on 2018. Within a period of three years (2016-2019) of Duterte’s rule, 116 human rights defenders were killed.

Furthermore, 57 labor and urban poor activists were illegally arrested and faced trumped-up charges after the simultaneous raids of human rights groups’s offices in Negros in just one night last 2019. Worse, the enactment of Memorandum Order 32 heightened military presence in Negros, invoked fear among the Negrosanons with the widespread impunity it entailed.

Such crimes have been admitted without remorse by Duterte during the hearings. He even boasted about the ‘Davao Death Squad’, and how this inspired him to take it on a national level in his presidency. He championed his commanders in perfectly executing his orders. These are strong basis for the issuance of a warrant against the primary perpetrators of these condemnable crimes.

However, we should not rely solely on the parliamentary struggle since we have long known the fact that Duterte has allies backing him up. And despite the existing political feud between Duterte and the Marcoses, there is still no serious effort on the Marcos regime to bring Duterte to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The Filipino people must continue to raise their fists along with the sectors of workers, peasants, youth, church people and other patriotic forces to exhaust all means of forwarding the demands of the oppressed and the exploited. The attempt of every fascist regime to bath the Filipino people in blood only inspires a more militant response from the masses. From the streets to the countryside, we march forward, to ending impunity, to seeking justice!