Rights under Marcos 2.0

On his first International Human Rights Day as President, how is the only son of Ferdinand Marcos doing?

As in our post-pandemic economic growth numbers that benefit from a low base, Ferdinand Junior is blessed with a predecessor who dramatically lowered the bar for public officials’ upholding of human rights. Everything is better by comparison.

Instead of cursing God, BBM and his family are attending mass.

This President respects women and isn’t the type who will crack rape jokes, leer at the Vice President or order soldiers to shoot female communist rebels in the vagina.

Presidential addresses to the nation and media interviews are no longer Rated R when aired. We haven’t heard BBM utter a cuss word in public, ever.

The most noteworthy improvement, of course, is in the approach to fighting the drug menace. Sure, there are still killings believed linked to drugs – as law enforcement agencies have warned, lethal encounters with criminals cannot be completely ruled out.

But in the absence of a president whose marching order in the anti-drug campaign is to kill, kill, kill, the level of violence is undeniably down. The days of Tokhang and Double Barrel are over.

Even when drug suspects are killed in police operations, the cops enjoy greater presumption of regularity in carrying out their work, unlike in the previous administration.

A good proof is that police raid on no less than a district office of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in Taguig. Rodrigo Duterte would have also gone after rogue elements in the PDEA. But under Double Barrel, a bloodbath would have ensued in that raid, with the three principal suspects likely killed ostensibly after nanlaban or resisting arrest.

*      *      *

The kinder, gentler approach to the drug menace has surely helped BBM in his personal interactions with his foreign counterparts. You can’t imagine Justin Trudeau of Canada, where marijuana is completely legal, comparing sock design with Duterte.

BBM and his officials have said the justice system in the country is functioning so they see no need for the International Criminal Court to push through with a formal investigation of possible crimes against humanity committed in Duterte’s bloody war on drugs. They also see no need for the country to rejoin the ICC.

Still, for the first time since 2015, the Philippines has allowed a special rapporteur of the United Nations to visit the country and freely conduct a study of the rights situation.

Although Mama Fatima Singhateh is the UN special rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children and her visit has nothing to do with the Philippine campaign against illegal drugs or insurgency, her 10-day visit – which included a meeting with Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla – is another plus for Marcos Junior’s government.

Singhateh commended the Philippines for progress in the fight against child sexual exploitation.

The BBM administration’s commitment to this cause will be tested in the sanctions imposed by the US on Marcos supporter and Duterte spiritual adviser Apollo Quiboloy (and about 40 other individuals in nine countries), to mark International Anti-Corruption Day and Human Rights Day.

*      *      *

In a press statement, the US Department of the Treasury declared: “For more than a decade, Apollo Carreon Quiboloy engaged in serious human rights abuse, including a pattern of systemic and pervasive rape of girls as young as 11 years old, as well as other physical abuse.”

It added: “Quiboloy also subjected pastorals and other KOJC members to other forms of physical abuse. Reports indicate Quiboloy personally beat victims and knew where to hit them so there would be no visible bruising.” KOJC refers to Quiboloy’s church, the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, The Name Above Every Name.

That’s a serious indictment of the televangelist, who is on the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Most Wanted List for, among others, sex trafficking, fraud and coercion and bulk cash smuggling.

Quiboloy’s lawyers have decried the sanctions as politically motivated and questioned its timing. Between KOJC and Washington, however, you can see which one suffers from a credibility problem.

Is BBM willing to be tainted with sleaze, particularly one involving child rape? Yesterday, Remulla said the government would gather “verified information” and seek legal advice from the US on Quiboloy’s case.

Shortly after the FBI released his wanted poster, Quiboloy appeared in public with Duterte, whose dislike for the US is no secret.

The Philippines under BBM has improved ties with Washington, but Quiboloy’s Sonshine Media Network International is Marcos’ (and his VP’s) favorite media organization. What if the US formally seeks Quiboloy’s extradition?

*      *      *

Speaking of mass media, journalists are still targeted during the new administration, although this isn’t due to any systematic policy of the national government, but due to entrenched weaknesses in the criminal justice system that breed impunity.

The murder of broadcaster Percy Lapid stands out for being one of the rare journalist killings perpetrated in Metro Manila, and of course because the accused mastermind is the suspended chief of the Bureau of Corrections – a holdover from the Duterte administration.

But the fact that the bizarre story behind the murder came to light and Gerald Bantag now faces criminal indictment together with his sidekick (now AWOL) plus hired guns and Bilibid inmates, is a plus for the new administration.

BBM now seems more relaxed with media organizations that he avoided during his election campaign. He has also said he would not block a new legislative franchise for ABS-CBN. This is noteworthy particularly because his father had also shut down ABS-CBN (plus all other independent media) when martial law was imposed.

Where there has been no improvement in the human rights department, as far as the Left is concerned, is in the approach to counterinsurgency.

The military continues to report lethal armed encounters with communist rebels. The Left maintains that there are no encounters, and those killed were summarily executed.

In this area, BBM is more like Duterte, supporting the military’s version of events. BBM’s congressional allies have also approved the P10 billion funding for the National Task Force to End Communist Armed Conflict.

Junior’s VP has also retained the P150-million confidential fund for her education portfolio, which the Left also suspects will be used not just to protect school children from sexual predators and drug pushers but also from “subversive” ideas. But what the VP will do with the funds still remains to be seen.

Overall, in the light of the abuses during the first Marcos presidency, plus Duterte’s record in the past six years, when it comes to human rights, Marcos 2.0 is already a major improvement.