Cultural Workers' Statement
August 20 2017
We, Filipino cultural workers, condemn the killings wrought by the war on drugs, especially of the innocent, the young, and those caught in the crossfire. We denounce the normalization of these killings, the pardon of rogue police and military men, and the abetting of authorities’ abuse against citizens.
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In a speech on August 11 2017, President Rodrigo Duterte himself discredited this war on drugs.
“Sabi ko, ang America <…> hindi nga niya makontrol ‘yung drugs, tayo pa kaya? We do not have the equipment. Kulang man. And you know the coastline ... that’s 7,000 islands comprising the Republic of the Philippines. Hindi makaya ng iba, tayo pa kaya? ‘Yung drugs na ‘yan, we can't control it.”
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Where Filipinos are dying on mere suspicion of involvement in drugs, where deaths are justified by victims’ inclusion in questionable drug lists, where a few grams of drugs on a person has been used to justify murder, government has fallen silent on the P6.4-billion worth of smuggled drugs from China, for which there have been no suspects charged. The President himself now says there is no controlling the entry of drugs into the country.
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We say: then there is no reason to believe in, or stand for, this war the President is waging.
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We call for an end to President Duterte’s war on drugs. We demand that those responsible for the thousands dead in official police operations and the thousands more in summary executions be brought to justice.
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We unite with all other sectors, non-government organizations, the few government agencies and fewer members of the House of Representatives and the Senate, that have taken a stand against the killings. We urge them to stand not just against the killing of the innocent and the young, but also against this war on drugs, given how it has been implemented, and its promise of thousands more dead.
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We sign this statement as individual workers of the cultural sector, united by our collective anger against the current state of violence and bound by our continued belief in our basic rights. We sign as cultural workers who stand against fear and hate, who will fight for freedom and justice, and who now vow to never fall silent again.
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