We strongly condemn Philippine National Police Regional Director Brigadier General Rwin Pagkalinawan for echoing President Rodrigo Duterteβs highly deplorable and inhuman marching orders to shoot dead anyone “who creates trouble”. Pagkalinawan irresponsibly ordered police snipers βto shoot communist organizers who unnecessarily organize the masses at this time in the Cordillera Regionβ.
We have heard these lines before in the governmentβs supposed war against drugs. Have they addressed the drug problem? No! At the cost of lives lost to extrajudicial killings running to more than 20,000 and at the expense of the rule of law, justice and human rights.
And now we are seeing a replay of orders as if killings and further stifling the already narrow democratic space would provide solution to the pandemic. There is blood in Duterteβs hands with such pronouncement, and there is definitely blood in Pagkalinawanβs hands if human rights violations will ensue following his pronouncement.
These orders themselves are violations to our human rights. They come at a time of growing social unrest due to widespread and extreme hunger caused by the glaring lack of government response in terms of humanitarian aid and efficient health crisis approach in the lockdown. These orders also come at a time when asserting rights such as asking for food and humanitarian aid to survive is wrongly branded as communist terrorist activities; and as if being a communist is synonymous to terrorism to merit a βshoot to killβ order given the principles of human rights and international humanitarian laws.
In the context of an intolerant and authoritarian Duterte regime, anyone who asks about access to government allocations for the needy, anyone who tries to forge solidarity to provide solutions to the current problem of health and hunger is made vulnerable to attack, especially individuals, leaders, and organizations who have already been politically vilified by the National Task Force to End Local Armed Conflict.
Make no mistake about it, in this health crisis, the people are ready and more than willing to take on the necessary restriction of movement and physical distancing, to stay at home if they are not left to fend for themselves for food basics for their families to survive, and if they are not neglected and abandoned by the government.
At the onset of the lockdown, we witnessed the sacrifice, acts of kindness and solidarity from individuals, peopleβs organizations, businesses and notable local government units and officials whose actions filled in what the national government has failed to efficiently provide β food, shelter, transportation, personal protective equipment especially for medical frontliners, among other basics. Necessary public discourse brought forth the need for mass testing, and engaged the government on policies important to address the problem.
These prove that organized actions and dissent are necessary and effective. Public discourse on issues confronting us, and organized actions provide space for solutions to the problem to be discussed. These are not the problem, nor the people, the enemy.
We demand that Pagkalinawan take back his orders, and for uniformed men to not follow Duterteβs words if they are true to their mandate to serve and protect the people. The emergency powers granted to the government are supposed to address the health crisis and not cause mass intimidation, further human rights violations and martial rule that spell terror to the people.
To survive this crisis, we deserve a leadership that believes in inclusive and humane policies, one that adheres to its human rights obligations, a leadership that truly unites all sectors, including non-government organizations, peopleβs organizations and institutions, if indeed, we are to heal as one.