THE International Criminal Court (ICC), through Interpol, has issued an arrest warrant for former president Rodrigo Duterte on charges of crimes against humanity. His arrest is a victory for the long-standing campaign for justice for the thousands of victims of his regime’s bogus war on drugs. It is also a crucial step toward accountability for the families of those killed in his bloody counterinsurgency operations, which brutally suppressed dissent, activism, freedom of association, and workers’ rights.
For workers in Southern Mindanao, Duterte is the face of repression. His martial law in Mindanao (2017–2019) and the establishment of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) in 2018 unleashed widespread labor rights violations, including: violent dispersals of workers’ strikes in Shin Sun (2017) and Sumifru (2018) in Davao de Oro; extrajudicial killing of trade unionist Danny Boy Bautista (2018); forced disaffiliation of the Musahamat Farm Workers Labor Union (2019); abduction and enforced disappearance of labor organizer William Lariosa in Southern Bukidnon; and ongoing harassment and red-tagging of labor leaders, local trade unions, and progressive organizations, both on the ground and online.
Considering these grave abuses, Kilusang Mayo Uno-Southern Mindanao Region (KMU-SMR) firmly believes that Duterte must be held fully accountable for his crimes against workers and the Filipino people. We urge the public to remain vigilant as his prosecution at the ICC unfolds and to join the broader movement demanding accountability, not just from Duterte, but from all those complicit in the gross abuse of power and human rights violations.
Duterte is neither a hero nor a victim; he must face the consequences of his crimes.
- KMU-SMR