Sen. Drilon demands review of PhP 19-Billion anti-communist funds
- Published: 15 August 2021 15 August 2021
Philippine Senate Minority Leader Sen. Franklin Drilon urged the Commission on Audit on 2 August to conduct a special audit on the PhP 19.2-billion budget of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC). He said he will also ask the Senate leadership to demand that the NTF-ELCAC submit a report on how its budget was used.
Read more: Sen. Drilon demands review of PhP 19-Billion anti-communist funds
Millions suffer hunger under ‘Duterteriorating’ economy – IBON thinktank
- Published: 15 August 2021 15 August 2021
A report of Philippine thinktank IBON Foundation in June 2021 showed that 15 million Filipino families, comprising 62.1% of the country’s total, went hungry in 2020. The report said that 12.4 million families were surviving on just PhP132 (US$2.61) or less per person per day, a far cry from the minimum PhP1,026 (US$20.30) per day needed for a family of five.
Read more: Millions suffer hunger under ‘Duterteriorating’ economy – IBON thinktank
NPA marks Duterte’s SONA with 11 offensives in 4 provinces
- Published: 15 August 2021 15 August 2021
The New People's Army mounted 11 tactical offensives in the central Philippine provinces of Samar, Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental and Sorsogon from 15 to 29 July, challenging President Rodrigo Duterte’s last State of the Nation Address which he delivered on 26 July. The Communist Party of the Philippines said initial field reports indicate that Duterte’s armed forces sustained 30 casualties with at least 26 killed.
Read more: NPA marks Duterte’s SONA with 11 offensives in 4 provinces
‘Terrorist’ tag to escalate state terrorism – NDFP
- Published: 31 July 2021 31 July 2021
The National Council of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines denounced on 21 July the Duterte government for its designation of the NDFP as a ‘terrorist organization’, saying this signals the escalation of state terrorism against the NDFP and its 18 allied organizations. It said the ‘terrorist’ tag will also see an “escalation of attacks against legal social activists, human rights defenders, critics and oppositionists” who will be arbitrarily labeled as NDFP members and associates.
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Jeers, protests greet Duterte’s final SONA
- Published: 31 July 2021 31 July 2021
Thousands of Filipinos marched on the streets of Metro Manila and other parts of the country on 26 July, calling out the Rodrigo Duterte government as an “epic failure” and demanding an end to his “incompetent, corrupt, treasonous and murderous regime.” The protests marked Duterte’s State of the Nation Address before the joint Houses of Congress, his last before the presidential elections of May 2022.
US Senators press Biden on rights abuses in the Philippines
- Published: 31 July 2021 31 July 2021
Members of the US Senate on 26 July called on the administration of President Joseph Biden to address what they called “the pattern of human rights violations” of the Duterte government. The senators urged the Biden administration “to stand with the people of the Philippines as they continue to fight for their universal human rights.”
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Supreme Court: Duterte obliged to cooperate with ICC
- Published: 31 July 2021 31 July 2021
In a unanimous resolution approved on 16 March but published only on 21 July, the Supreme Court of the Republic of the Philippines declared that President Rodrigo Duterte is obliged to cooperate with the International Criminal Court investigations. Duterte has been publicly insisting that he will never allow such an investigation, threatening then ICC Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda to be “thrown to the crocodiles” if she comes to the Philippines.
Read more: Supreme Court: Duterte obliged to cooperate with ICC