Tag Archives: Philippino President Rodrigo Duterte

OPINION: If Biden Stands for Human Rights, Pass the Philippines Human Rights Act Now!

December 10, 2021 Editor

by Jessica Valdez and Michael Alcantara

The Seattle Globalist was a daily online publication that covered the connections between local and global issues in Seattle. The Emerald is keeping alive its legacy of highlighting our city’s diverse voices by regularly publishing and re-publishing stories aligned with the Globalist’s mission.

Dec. 10, International Human Rights Day, is a major date for organizations concerned with the situation in the Philippines. For over a year, activists from the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) and the Malaya Movement, which organize Filipinos and allies in the struggle for a genuine and lasting peace in the Philippines, have lobbied Washington representatives, including Adam Smith, to take action to address the human rights crisis by supporting the Philippines Human Rights Act (PHRA).

On Dec. 10, the activists will stage a die-in and rally outside of Congressman Smith’s Renton office to pressure him to cut U.S. military aid to the Philippines.

Continue reading →

News

PHOTO ESSAY: Filipino Community Mobilizes Against Philippine President at Othello Park

August 3, 2021 Editor Leave a comment

by Ronnie Estoque

On Saturday, July 31, BAYAN Seattle and Malaya Movement coordinated a rally and carnival to launch the Duterte Wakasan Na Movement, which seeks the resignation of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte for human rights violations in the country. Human Rights Watch reports that extrajudicial killings in the country — often committed under the guise of a “war on drugs” — have increased dramatically during the pandemic.

The weekend event also included several bouncy houses for kids, food and games, and local performances from artists as well as group dancing. Several notable speakers in attendance included Miss Washington Maricres Castro and Washington State Sen. Rebecca Saldaña. Both expressed support for local community organizers.

“Under current President Duterte, the unjust system in the Philippines participates in suppressing dissent both by weaponizing the law to facilitate human rights abuses and by failing to enforce legal protections,” said Saldaña, who has served as a sub commissioner on Investigate PH — an organization currently conducting independent investigations of human rights violation in the country.

Last April, the Emerald published a photo essay that documented protests at Seafood City in Tukwila from the same organizations that led Saturday’s event at Othello Park.

The Pacific Northwest is home to one of the largest Filipino populations in the country.

Continue reading →

News

PHOTO ESSAY: Filipino American ‘Die-in’ Demands Justice for Activists Killed in the Philippines

April 12, 2021 Editor Leave a comment

by Ronnie Estoque

“Makibaka! Huwag matakot! [Dare to struggle! Do not be afraid!]” was a chant that rang through the air on Sunday, April 11. Unified local Filipino American members of the organizations Bayan PNW, Malaya Seattle, and the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines gathered at Seafood City in Tukwila on Sunday for a die-in protest and rally. Organizers focused on demanding justice for the March 7 killing of nine Filipino activists in the Calabarzon region of the Philippines, an incident that is being called Bloody Sunday.

Continue reading →

Voices

OPINION: Freedom of Press in the Age of Social Media and Authoritarian Presidents

October 28, 2020 Editor Leave a comment

by Cindy Domingo

As we close out Filipino American History Month this October, we realize through the many virtual educational events we have watched that there is more that binds us than divides us as a transnational Filipino community. In fact, the Philippine Congress and Constitutions were patterned after the U.S. — enshrining the same freedoms of speech, expression, the press, the right to peacefully assemble, and the right to petition the government for redress.

Unfortunately, 2016 marked a year when both the Philippines and the U.S. elected strongarm presidents who have threatened these freedoms and moved our countries away from the democratic principles found in our respective constitutions. Both Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and President Donald Trump have gone full force to try to silence their opposition and, more particularly, have gone after the press and eroded the role that the media plays in defending democracy.

Continue reading →

Voices

Dictator and Apprentice: Duterte and Trump

July 30, 2020 Editor Leave a comment

by Cindy Domingo

Amid the current worldwide pandemic, two presidents — over 8,000 miles apart — seem to have been trained from the same leadership course. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s State of the Union address delivered on July 27 was filled with rants against his critics and personal grudges against the media. There was no roadmap laid out to lead the country out of the health, political, and economic crisis facing the Filipino people. Issues of unemployment, poverty, and illness went unmentioned while Duterte focused on his drug war and the death penalty. Sound familiar? Unfortunately, this is a painful reminder of President Donald Trump and his lack of leadership in our nation’s time of crisis.

Both Trump and Duterte initially refused to acknowledge the seriousness of COVID-19, allowing the virus to spread unfettered and leaving governors, mayors, and other local officials to handle the pandemic without the appropriate funding or a unified national strategy. Finally, when the international and domestic pressure became too much to bear and the COVID-19 deaths and illnesses continued to mount, both presidents were forced to act.

Continue reading →