When
the president joked (?), “shot her in the vagina,” did you know that the genitals
of women victims of Maguindanao Massacre were shot and slashed? This is what I’ve
learned from Commissioner Karen Dumpit of Commission of Human Rights (CHR)
speaking before the delegates of the 18th National Convention of the
Task Force Detainees of the Philippines (TFDP) at Arnold Janssen Spirituality
Center in BF Homes, Quezon City last February 22-24, 2018.
Being
a former worker of TFDP in Southern Tagalog way back in the early 90's as its human
rights education regional program coordinator, I was chosen as one of the
delegates to said convention. So, I took leave of absence from work going to the big city. Ms. Dumpit, by the way, is the same lady commissioner who once said in
an interview that there is no need to “get into the quagmire of ridiculing
other people just to make a point.”
As
I have posted in my Facebook account, we gathered in this turbulent time when humane treatment to the poor and the drug addicts are considered treachery to
the republic. The present government and the fanatics of the sitting president treated
the human rights advocates in the same footing with the drug addicts, the
terrorists and the criminals. They are considered as obstacles to whatever the
former Davao City mayor wants to come about.
Long before
he joked (?) to, “shoot her in the vagina,” he first encouraged the police to
attack human rights groups and advocates like those gathered at Arnold
Janssen Spirituality Center that day, by saying, “If they are obstructing justice, you shoot
them.” Indeed, there is also a war waged against the human rights defenders. His
fanatics, his blood-thirsty on-line warriors or trolls, believe that both the drug
dependents and the human rights (HR) defenders are worthy of brutal eradication.
To them, we are not just “destabilizers” but “demons” coddling the drug addicts
and criminals. Sadly, HR concepts and HR defenders are demonized today more
than ever.
“Duterte
is just a continuum of Marcos,” says Ellecer Carlos of In Defense of Human
Rights and Dignity Movement (iDEFEND). Duterte effectively “demonized” human
rights but under the present regime, change solely rested on violent peace and
order framework while the president’s economic program is only continued from
his predecessors. It is more accentuated on the market growth than human needs.
The choking-choking TRAIN is just an example!
As
emphasized by Ms. Bembet Madrid, Program Coordinator of Fastenopfer/Swiss
Catholic Lenten Fund, TFDP is an activists’ organization already embedded in
the Philippine social system. Established in 1974 by the Association of Major
Religious Superiors of the Philipines or AMRSP, it joined hands with victims of
human rights violations and their relatives, workers, students, and other
church-people, peasants and other democratic forces in the country in the
struggles for human rights and democracy during the dark years of Marcos’
Martial Law and onwards. TFDP existed past over 7 Philippine presidents
already, from Marcos the idol, to his avid fan Duterte. TFDP, according to Ms.
Madrid, continue to remain relevant by being firmly rooted to the signs of times and grounded
on social realities.
The
president is so adhered to his unwavering stance against human rights even before he was elected to power. His
on-line mobs are all behind him ready to throw accusations at anyone who are
asking humane treatment for criminals and drug addicts. Despite of this, human
rights organizations and defenders must press on. The theme is challenging: Human Rights Under Fire: Human Rights Defenders Stand Our Ground; Defend the Rights of All."
Lent
threatens the demon (take note that I omitted previous quotation marks on the
word) or the demonic dominion in many ways. On the first Sunday of Lent, we
hear the Gospel on the temptation of Christ in the desert. Let us learn how
Christ triumphantly won over the demon:
He decisively rejects all of these temptations and reaffirms His
unwavering will to follow the path set by the Father, without any compromise
with sin or the world’s logic.
Jesus
does not entertain the demon like what Eve did at the Garden of Eden. We must take
refuge to God instead and answer with force and not to laugh at the demon’s “jokes”.
We, the Christian HR defenders and advocates are faith-bound in the good fight
that Paul taught us. This Lent, let us strengthen our spiritual armor (ref.
Ephesians 6) and like Christ, we, “demons” in the eyes of king’s men, must be
tried and tested for the sake of the realization of authentic change towards God’s
Kingdom…
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Photo
: Emmanuel C. Amistad, TFDP
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