Fil-Am leaders condemn Duterte’s presence in Summit for Democracy

By ROY C. MABASA

Several Filipino-American leaders have expressed their outrage at the invitation extended by United States President Joe Biden to President Duterte to participate in the Summit for Democracy, calling it a “blunder” and a “mockery of what the US professes”.

In a letter to Biden, the Fil-Am leaders led by businesswoman-lawyer Loida Nicolas-Lewis said inviting governments with serious human rights problems like the Philippines under Duterte makes the whole summit “questionable”.

They reminded the US President that the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) is conducting an investigation into the “unlawful or arbitrary killings” under Duterte’s drug war that left nearly 6,000 civilians killed since assuming office in 2016.

“Inviting governments with serious human rights problems like the Philippines – which your State Department has consistently warned about – makes this whole summit questionable,” the group said on the eve of the summit.

Duterte is scheduled to attend the event, which is taking place from Dec. 9 to 10, along with heads of states and government, other government leaders, and “voices from the business and non-government sectors” to join the US in “taking action to strengthen democracy.”

Aside from the drug war-related killings, the Fil-Am leaders also denounced the Duterte administration’s “brazen assaults on the Philippines’ constitutional democracy” with the suppression of dissent, the jailing of opposition Sen. Leila De Lima, constant harassment of journalists, and the shutdown of ABS-CBN television network.

“By presenting Duterte, who is among the world’s despots, as an ally of democracy, you are betraying the Filipino people who fought dictators like Ferdinand Marcos and Filipino Americans who voted for you. The Filipino people and Filipino Americans will continue to fight against the repressive Duterte government,” the Fil-Am leaders said.

To counteract the blunder, the group urged Biden to instead invite democratic opposition leader, Vice President Leni Robredo, to participate in the summit.

“The Filipino people deserve respect from the United States by truly demonstrating its support for human rights and democratic principles. We are profoundly outraged because the presence of Duterte makes a mockery of what the U.S. professes, especially given the sheer magnitude of his crimes,” they said.

Aside from Nicolas-Lewis who chairs the US Filipinos for Good Governance, the other signatories in the letter were Edwin Batongbacal, Akbayan North America; Gus Mercado, 1Sambayan Texas; Ago Pedalizo, Filipino American Human Rights Alliance; Jerry Clarito, Philippine Human Rights Alliance; David Borden, StoptheDrugWar.org; Rodel Rodis, US Pinoys for Good Governance, and Celia Lamkin, National Youth Movement for the West Philippine Sea.

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Source: Latest Politics News Today (Politics.com.ph)