Activists slam Roque as Duterte’s lapdog

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque (right) talks to the media practitioners and members of the Cagayan de Oro Press Club (COPC) during his brief visit here on Thursday afternoon. The COPC is commemorating the 36th Press Freedom Week from May 21-26. (Jigger J. Jerusalem)
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque (right) talks to the media practitioners and members of the Cagayan de Oro Press Club (COPC) during his brief visit here on Thursday afternoon. The COPC is commemorating the 36th Press Freedom Week from May 21-26. (Jigger J. Jerusalem)

A GROUP of militant students hit presidential spokesperson Harry Roque for justifying the martial law in Mindanao, and called the latter a “lapdog” to President Rodrigo Duterte.

Roque, who was in Cagayan de Oro Thursday, May 24, for the Press Freedom Week celebrations, urged activists to show proof that martial law caused violations against the people.

But the League of Filipino Students (LFS) in Northern Mindanao said Roque is in denial and must be blind to the Maranaos displaced from Marawi City as victims of martial law.

Cabardo said victims of human rights violations are in the countryside, the basic sectors who actively engage in local mass campaigns, and not the ones who live comfortably with secure and regular jobs and can afford private counsel if put into question by state forces.

“He must be deaf to the calls of the farmers and lumads who, for years, have been calling for their right to their ancestral lands. He must be so heartless to be able to tell activists and human rights’ groups that we need to prove human rights violations in Mindanao. The protests of the people are proof that violations are rampant not only in Mindanao but the entire country,” Kristine Cabardo said, the LFS-Northern Mindanao chairperson.

“It is not the rich who bear the burden and violations of martial law. It is most likely the informal vendors who peddle at night, motorcycle drivers who ply the remote roads, and other people with meager incomes who are affected by the martial law,” she said.

According to the year-end report of Karapatan Alliance for the Advancement of Peoples’ Rights, tallied a total of 2,664 affected individuals including 1,199 evacuees in far flung communities in Northern Mindanao. In the recent International Fact-Finding Mission, there were 311 peasants who were victims of human rights violations.

After a year of martial law in Mindanao, the LFS-NMR said the question should not be whether or not human rights violations were committed, but “what Duterte will do in desperation to cover up its blood trail.”

“Duterte has tasked his lapdog Roque to further deceive people about the real situation of Mindanao. He will do all he can to ensure that his rule will go unquestioned. But the LFS-NMR will continue exposing Duterte’s malevolent intentions and will side with the people against his intensifying fascist rule,” she added.

Trending

No stories found.

Just in

No stories found.

Branded Content

No stories found.
SunStar Publishing Inc.
www.sunstar.com.ph