The people of Cagayan Valley warmly welcome and celebrate the arrest of the scoundrel and fascist Rodrigo Duterte by the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) under the warrant of arrest issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity on March 11. This serves as a stern warning to all those who have been instruments and accomplices of Duterte, who sowed terrorism and propagated a culture of violence and impunity.

The arrest of Duterte is a step forward in holding him accountable and achieving justice not only for the thousands of victims of extrajudicial killings in the name of the fake war on drugs but also for his terrorist attacks under de facto martial law throughout the archipelago during his tyrannical rule as president, which primarily targeted the Moro people and revolutionary movement. This is a victory for the Filipino people that seek justice and bravely stand up and fight to hold Duterte accountable.

Through the imposition of martial law in Mindanao, the subjugation of Bicol and the Visayas under Memorandum Order 32, the establishment of Executive Order 70 and the NTF-Elcac, and the enactment of the Anti-Terrorism Act, systematic and mass killings of farmers, workers, youth, activists, journalists, teachers, and church people asserting rights, as well as lawyers and critics who stood against his tyrannical leadership have been institutionalized.

In the guise of the anti-insurgency war, dozens of communities have been subdued under the iron fist of the military, forcibly displaced due to bombings, and subjected to rampant violence, repression, illegal arrests, abductions, killings, and massacres. The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and Philippine National Police (PNP) seem like rabid dogs thirsty for blood, with a mission of “Kill, kill, kill.” All suspected “addicts” and “enemies” of the state have been “neutralized,” communities have been raided, and all those asserting democracy and freedom have been forcibly “surrendered.”

Instead of sincerely engaging in peace negotiations to resolve the roots of armed conflict in the country, Duterte has arrested and killed NDFP consultants. He declared a shoot-to-kill order and an all-out war against democratic forces. The people have been suppressed and silenced with the rise of the NTF-Elcac through widespread campaigns of disinformation and red-tagging that endangered the lives, security, and freedom of the people.

The record of the Duterte regime in Cagayan Valley is bloody. There are at least 20 victims of extrajudicial killings, many have been arrested and faced fabricated charges (including two political detainees who died in prison), and there have been 10 cases of terrorism from the air (including nine incidents recorded within 10 months) that endangered the lives of thousands of individuals.

Under Duterte’s fascist rule, an additional four battalions were unleashed, spreading terror among the people of Cagayan Valley—the MBLT8 and MBLT10, along with then newly formed 95th IB and 98th IB—together with the notorious 86th IB, 17th IB, and 77th IB (which was converted from a cadre battalion to a maneuver battalion in 2020) under the directive and leadership of the 501st IBde and 502nd IBde of the 5th Infantry Division. These units of the AFP relentlessly subjugated and enveloped the communities of farmers and indigenous peoples in terrorism, indiscriminately dropping bombs from the air that claimed the lives of seven fighters from the NPA-East Cagayan and endangered the lives and livelihoods of thousands of civilians under Duterte’s mandate to “flatten the mountains.” In collaboration with the PNP, they launched Sauron-like operations specifically in the barangays of Sto. Niño and Baggao in Cagayan. Human rights and international humanitarian laws were blatantly trampled upon.

Who can forget the gruesome murders of Victorino Tesorio and Lolito Rasa on January 24, 2018, who were quietly living as retirees and suffering from illnesses? Tesorio had a bullet wound in his right eye, his right index finger was crushed, his arm was broken, and his left toenail was torn off, while Rasa had a bullet wound in his left temple. This is a clear indication that they suffered severe torture before being killed. Likewise the cowardly murder of NDF consultant Randy Malayao while he was sleeping on a bus on January 30, 2019? The ambush by a death squad on Leo Angelo Miranda, who was only carrying a notebook and pen while riding a tricycle? The appalling fate of the sick Renato Busania at the hands of the military, who claimed he fought back in January 2021? The inhumane torture of unarmed individuals and the desecration of the bodies of Saturnino Agonoy, Augusto Gayagas, and Mark Canta while traveling in April 2022?

In September 2016, just three months after Duterte took office as president, the farmer leader Ariel Diaz was extrajudicially killed. This was followed by a long list—Marcial Pattuagan, Bronsel Infiel, Alberto Gummalaue, Sammy Pohayon, the siblings Rogelio and Rolito Mendoza, Rey Vasquez, the indigenous Aggay people Dabaw and Barani, and Fr. Mark Ventura. Also, the brutal fate of Lasam councilor Marjorie Salazar, who was allegedly on Duterte’s drug list, along with her fellow councilor Eduardo Asuten, and Salazar’s secretary and driver, Aiza Manuel and John Ray Apil.

The demand of the Filipino people for accountability for Rodrigo Duterte’s crimes against humanity does not end here; rather, it is just the beginning of a long-standing quest for justice. The ranks and strength of the national democratic forces must be further united with the broad masses to insist on holding Duterte and his accomplices accountable and to amplify the call for justice. Alongside this, there must be a reckoning with the US-Marcos Jr. regime, which continues to sow state terrorism under the auspices of EO 70 and the Anti-Terror Law. The political opportunism of Marcos Jr. must also be firmly exposed, as he pretends to wash his hands of the situation while exploiting the people’s demand for accountability from Duterte to further consolidate his power and thwart any attempts for the return of the Dutertes in 2028.

The arrest of Duterte is a preliminary victory for the Filipino people, but the struggle for justice based on national and social liberation must continue. This is a golden lesson for the fighting people. In the same spirit, it is also a lesson for the ruling class and fascist dictators, a living proof that they cannot escape their atrocities against the people. They may evade prison, but they can never escape the judgment of history. In the course of waging the people’s democratic revolution, the people’s democratic government and the CPP-NPA-NDF ensure that the victims and the people of Cagayan Valley will experience revolutionary justice, if not now, then certainly in the future.