Press Release
April 21, 2018

Dispatch from Crame No. 290
Sen. Leila M. de Lima's Statement on Duterte's double speak and double standards on the issue of Sovereignty

4/21/18

One day after the new PNP Chief assumed his post with the promise to continue this administration's Oplan Tokhang and Double Barrel, 13 drug suspects were killed in Bulacan in separate police operations.

This fresh wave of killings came two days after the European Parliament came out with a strong Resolution urging the Philippine government to end extrajudicial killings related to the war on drugs and to stop the persecution of human rights defenders opposing these killings and other violations. The EU also called for the dropping of the trumped up charges against me and for my immediate release from detention so that I could continue my work as a Senator and as a defender of human rights and the Rule of Law.

Ano po ang naging sagot ng gobyernong ito? Sabi po ni Foreign Affairs Secretary at spokesperson ng mga death squads na si Alan Cayetano, wala raw pong karapatang magsalita ang EU sa tuloy-tuloy na patayan kaugnay ng gyera kontra-droga dahil ito ay "internal affairs" ng Pilipinas.

Kung ganito ang sagot ni Secretary Cayetano, ang ibig sabihin nito ay hindi na nila itinatago o itinatanggi ang mga pagpatay sa ilalim ng administrasyong ito. Iba na talaga ang garapalang baluktot na pangangatwiran at pagpapawalang-halaga sa buhay ng mga Pilipinong dapat nilang pinagsisilbihan, kung ang tanging nasasabi na lamang nila ay: "Sariling mamamayan namin ang napapatay sa teritoryo namin. Huwag n'yo kaming pakialaman!"

Kakila-kilabot talaga ang karumaldumal na pag-iisip at pag-uugali ng mga nasa katungkulan: ang mali ay pinipilit gawing tama, at ang tama ay pinipilit gawing mali.

Speaking of twisting right and wrong, Duterte and his minions have been milking the sovereignty argument to defend its atrocious rights violations and justify its harassment and threats of deportation against foreigners who are rights advocates like the 71-year old Sr. Patricia Fox who has been in the Philippines for nearly three decades helping marginalized Filipinos.

Malinaw pong napakaipokrito at mapanlinlang ang gobyerno ni Duterte sapagkat pagdating naman sa usapin ng patuloy na pananakop ng China sa West Philippine Sea ay tahimik ito at ni hindi binabanggit ang usapin ng soberenya. Kamakailan lamang po ay nag-landing na ng dalawang military planes ang China sa Panganiban Reef na nasa teritoryo ng ating bansa.

Di hamak pong mas malalang pagyurak sa ating soberenya bilang isang malayang bansa ang ginagawang pag-okupa ng China sa ating teritoryo kesa sa pagsasalita ng EU tungkol sa mga nangyayaring patayan at iba pang paglabag sa karapatang pantao sa ilalim ng administrasyong ito.

This Duterte regime has mastered double speak and double standards. In this case, it has its own double meaning of sovereignty to neutralize criticisms from the human rights community and serve the whims of its Chinese overlords.

It is hard to fathom what could be any worse than the betrayal of our national interests to favor the interests of foreign governments. But the betrayal being committed by government law enforcers butchering the populace, rather than protecting them, is certainly no less heinous. They both manifest the same callousness to the welfare of Filipinos. If they can kill and persecute our people with impunity, they are evil enough to sell us and our independence in exchange for a few pieces of silver.

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