November 18, 2021

‘PH is a plaything of competing dictators’ – global coalition on human rights on Parlade’s presidential bid

The late substitution of Retired Lieutenant General Antonio Parlade Jr for the presidential nomination of Antonio Valdez “deepens the perception that the Philippines is a plaything for competing dictators,” Peter Murphy, chairperson of the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) said.

Murphy, an Australian-based human rights advocate, led Investigate PH, a recent three-part investigation by an international commission on the extrajudicial killings, illegal arrests, abductions and disappearances in the Philippines since 2016 when President Duterte came into power. One of the key findings of Investigate PH was the crucial role of President Duterte’s Executive Order No. 70 which created the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict to which Parlade was the spokesperson.

“Gen. Parlade is notorious for the Bloody Sunday massacre on March 7 this year, and for the enormous damage done by his red-tagging campaign and application of ‘tokhang’ to repression of political critics,” said Murphy.

With Parlade joining the frenzy 2022 national elections, Murphy said the Philippines have three ‘strong men’ characters vying for the presidency – the late dictator’s son, Ferdinand Marcos Jr, Senator Panfilo Lacson, and Gen. Parlade.

“These flagrant violators of human rights and recklessly divisive hate-speakers are not trying to develop a peaceful and prosperous society, but rather scramble for the ill-gotten spoils of office,” said Murphy.

Meanwhile, Murphy welcomes the massive budget cut on the NTF-ELCAC which now stands at P6.3 billion from a high of P16.4 billion, following calls of local and international human rights community for its abolition.

“We in ICHRP hope that the Filipino people will have a real choice of unifying, peace-making candidates for President, Senators and House Representatives who respect democratic processes and uphold all human rights, and that their votes will be counted without cheating,” said Murphy.#

For comment: Peter Murphy, Chairperson, ICHRP Global Council +61 418 312 301 [email protected]