Following the overthrow of the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos in the 1980s, it became commonplace for political leaders in the Philippines to claim to stand for democracy and human rights.
In my research analyzing Duterte’s official speeches, I have found at least 300 in his six-year term where he mentioned the word “human rights” at least once. In some, he mentioned the term human rights as much as 15 times. In most instances when these words were used, it was in defense of the “war on drugs” that he championed, and to disparage human rights advocates, who saw this “war” as enabling severe human rights violations, such as the widespread killing of civilians.
We see this interpretation in his speech during the 75th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, where he said, “the Philippines will continue to protect the human rights of its people, especially This tactic embraces human rights only to justify their violation, aligning well with what scholars have called the “appropriation of human rights.
Marcos has also eschewed mechanisms of accountability for addressing the “human rights crisis” that has occurred more recently. In particular, he has refused towith the International Criminal Court’s investigation into the alleged crimes against humanity that had been committed during Duterte’s “war on drugs.” Moreover,persist under Marcos’ leadership.