Like a house of cards

In a few days, the whole world will be celebrating International Human Rights Day. The specific date, December 10, is all the more significant because it coincides with the 75th year anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. But for us, Filipinos, that date should give us pause. For even though our laws, especially the Constitution, provide us many of these rights, the past six years under the bloody regime of Rodrigo Duterte have proven that these are merely a house of cards that can easily collapse under an iron fist. Shouldn’t we therefore seriously talk about rebuilding and strengthening these rights and our laws before the next authoritarian regime comes to power? 

Since the ratification of the 1986 Philippine Constitution, no government has seriously challenged the rule of the law in the country. Every administration would attempt to Cha-Cha or change the charter but this would always be unsuccessful and still this would be pursued within legal or lawful processes. But Duterte managed to break the system and in the process violate human rights and the fundamental law of the land. 

The list of his crime is long. But at the top of the list is certainly his so-called war on drugs that claimed the lives of 30 thousand Filipinos. As the International Criminal Court will discover in this brutal campaign, the police, upon the dictator’s clear orders, violated again and again the basic right to due process—presumption of innocence, legal arrest, fair hearing, etc. This just vanished into thin air. And we all were silent witnesses as this and other human rights were gradually eroding. The numbers could easily be obtained from various sources, but more important for our reflections is the analysis of why this mass slaughter came to pass, again, despite our existing laws, that before Duterte, we thought were strong and sufficient.

Here’s one probable, brief explanation of how we unraveled as a country. It began with Duterte’s undeniable charisma that catapulted him to power. He then consolidated and solidified his hold of power by forming a supermajority party in Congress that then became his rubber stamp. Remember the long periods of Martial Law in Mindanao and in Marawi that Congress passed for its master with nary a debate? Or the last one that it passed before the end of Duterte’s term—the so-called anti-terror law which is now being used to red-tag individuals and groups? 

Next, with a docile Congress already in his pocket, Duterte went after other democratic institutions. He defanged the Supreme Court, impeaching Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno. At the same time, he was dismantling the fourth estate or the Press, firstly by overflooding it with disinformation, and secondly by weaponizing the law against critical media organizations like Rappler, The Philippine Daily Inquirer, and ABS-CBN. In the end, when the dust cleared up there was very little left to any semblance of opposition in the country, especially with the staunchest one– Senator Leila de Lima– imprisoned under trumped-up charges as a warning to other would-be challengers.

Systematically and piece by awful piece, Duterte dismantled the rule of law in the country and the political and civil rights they protected. But he is, of course, just one side of this tragic story. The other side is where we find ourselves and what we did or did not do to stop him. Admittedly, many of us were silenced by fear. The atmosphere of violence projected by the daily EJKs threatened the populace into submission. But those who were in positions of authority should have known better, and yet they went along with the carnage – the police, the military, legal professionals, lawmakers, etc. And what happened to our Civil Society which in the 80s and 90s were the envy of many developing countries in their activism in the public arena? Is it also true that even the usually irrepressible Catholic Church just tiptoed around the dictator for six long years?

The point of our analytical exercise here, however, is not to point finger but to reflect and learn where we faltered and how we can strengthen our democracy. Do we really know, for instance,  our human rights, that is, knowledgeable enough to be able to assert and demand them? Moreover, are our schools adequately educating our youth about democratic values and every citizen’s civic duties and responsibilities? From the standpoint of institutions, why was it so easy for Duterte to emasculate our existing democratic institutions and processes? What guardrails can be provided for to make them withstand a populist or autocratic leader? 

It now seems very surreal, even comedic, to see Duterte making TV appearances again, mostly to come to the defense of his beleaguered daughter, spewing inanities and obscenities as before. But nobody takes him seriously now, for the once high-and-mighty has power no more. And yet one could seriously think, why did we ever fear this goat? We can heave a sigh of relief now and think that the nightmare is over. But unless we changed our locks and deadbolts, we cannot rest easy. Certainly, we cannot be business as usual and feel secure about our democracy and human rights, as if Duterte did not just happen to us!

(Join us in our conversations about the State of Human Rights in the Philippines after Duterte. Join our workshop-seminar KARAPATANG PANTAO, KARAPATAN NG BAWAT PILIPINO on Wednesday, 6 December, 9 AM to 5 PM at the Institute on Social Order, Ateneo de Manila University, Loyola Hts., Q.C.)