KARAPATAN
July 18, 2024
FERDINAND MARCOS JR.’S RANK HYPOCRISY AND DENIALISM IN THE FACE OF ESCALATING HUMAN RIGHTS AND IHL VIOLATIONS
Rank hypocrisy and denialism marked the first six months of 2024 under the Marcos Jr. regime. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. delved into his usual tack of distancing himself from the grim reality of human rights violations on the ground, coming out with ludicrous claims in March 2024 that human rights violations in 2023 were down by half compared to 2022.
Contrary to Marcos Jr.’s declaration, there were significant increases in the most serious human rights and international humanitarian law violations such as extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances.
In Marcos Jr.’s counter-insurgency war, there were 60 extrajudicial killings in 2023 compared to 41 in 2022. The biggest hike was in the number of victims of enforced disappearance — four victims in 2022 as opposed to 11 in 2023.
Documented reports from KARAPATAN also noted the 66% rise in the number of victims of indiscriminate firing, from 12,263 in 2022 to 20,391 in 2023. Victims of bombing attacks by the AFP also markedly rose from 2,354 in 2022 to 20,391 in 2023, for a monstrous 766% increase. Documented reports of fake surrenders likewise rose from 153 in 2022 to 401 in 2023, for an upsurge of 162%.
These figures, as well as the subsistence realities of the marginalized sectors, are enough to dispel Marcos Jr.’s false claims that “things are looking better” on the human rights front.
The one thing that distinguishes Marcos Jr. from his predecessor Rodrigo Duterte is his self-preening cultivation of a more “presidential” image compared to Duterte’s crassness.
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