HUMAN RIGHTS DAY. On December 10, 2016, a child looks at a pile of 'dead bodies' that forms part of an effigy depicting the culture of impunity in the Philippines and the authoritarian tendencies of President Rodrigo Duterte. Photo by Voltaire Tupaz/Rappler

MANILA, Philippines – For the first time since President Rodrigo Duterte assumed power, militant groups will feature, and burn, a monstrous effigy said to embody the "authoritarian tendencies" of the new leader.

The effigy, which illustrates the thorny issues that increasingly test the endurance of the alliance between the Duterte administration and the Left, will be the centerpiece of the groups' parade marking International Human Rights Day on Saturday, December 10.

Measuring 12 feet high and 30 feet long, the effigy bears elements that symbolize, among others, the growing human rights concerns of local advocates and the international community, spurred by the rising number of deaths in the government's war on drugs.



"The effigy depicts the political rehabilitation of the Marcoses and continuing state fascism, including extrajudicial killings, the non-release of political prisoners, and continuing military operations,” militant rights group Karapatan said.

The effigy features the head of dictator Ferdinand Marcos attached to a skeleton to symbolize the “resurrection and rehabilitation of the Marcoses” under the Duterte administration, according to artist Luigi Almuena, spokesperson of UgatLahi, which created the centerpiece of Saturday’s protest.

This is in reference to the dictator's burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani which Duterte had allowed in fulfillment of a campaign promise to the Marcoses.

One of the figure’s hands is ironclad, dripping with blood. Below it are piled-up bodies symbolizing impunity and the spate of alleged extrajudicial killings linked to Duterte’s drug war.



The corpses also represents continued military operations despite an indefinite ceasefire declaration from the government to boost peace talks with the National Democratic Front (NDF).

"Despite a unilateral ceasefire declaration from the Duterte government, there has been no let-up in combat operations in rural communities,” Palabay said.

'Kalansay na nga, binuhay pa’

The use of the late strongman’s head in the effigy highlights the issue that has recently mobilized thousands of young people and various groups – Duterte’s ties with the Marcoses that paved the way for the burial of the dictator in the Libingan ng mga Bayani. (READ: Youth leaders to Duterte: Shame on you for 'cleaning Marcos' image‬')

“Kalansay na nga, binuhay pa (He resurrected the dead),” a young activist said as she stared at the effigy.

She is appalled that a hero’s burial was given to Marcos while Martial Law victims are still crying for justice.

Based on estimates of Amnesty International (AI), 70,000 people were imprisoned, 34,000 were tortured, and 3,240 were killed during Martial Law.



The Marcoses had been accused of amassing ill-gotten wealth with various estimates pegging the loot between $5 billion to $10 billion. (READ: Recovering Marcos’ ill-gotten wealth: After 30 years, what?)

Imprint of martial law

Karapatan also called on Duterte to release about 400 political prisoners from the administration of Marcos to the present.



"Political prisoners, a vivid imprint of Martial Law, exist to this day despite commitments and agreements in the (government and NDF) peace process,” Palabay said.

Relatives of political prisoners reminded Duterte that their call is long overdue.

“Matagal ko nang ninanais ang paglaya ng aking asawa. Alalang-alala ako sa kalagayan niya kasi may karamdaman siya,” Gloria Almonte said.

Almonte’s 59-year-old husband, Dionisio, who is detained at Camp Bagong Diwa, suffers from hypertensive cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

Almonte participated in the 7-day “solidarity fasting” with other relatives and supporters of political prisoners that dramatized their call to free political prisoners on humanitarian grounds.

The President had said that he would not release political prisoners as they were the government's leverage in the peace negotiations.

On Human Rights Day, militants are also calling for an end to drug related killngs @rapplerdotcom pic.twitter.com/sshep1PioY — LeANNE Jazul (@LeanneJazul) December 10, 2016

‘Full fascist monster’

Karapatan urged Duterte to listen to the growing clamor to stop impunity in the Philippines allegedly caused by his so-called "war on drugs.”

“People will eventually brand him as a full fascist monster. Time is ticking for him to act on these human rights issues,” Palabay said, warning that protest actions will intensify if the President would refuse to address human rights violations.

Between July 1 and December 3, there have been over 5,800 deaths linked to the "war on drugs" – both from legitimate police operations and vigilante-style or unexplained killings (including deaths under investigation). (READ: IN NUMBERS: The Philippines' war on drugs)

The Philippine National Police (PNP) calls its campaigns against illegal drugs Oplan Double Barrel and Oplan TokHang. (READ: Warning to drug dealers: PNP has 'double barrel' plan)

After holding hearings on extrajudicial killings under the Duterte administration, the Senate committee on justice and human rights recently concluded that Oplan TokHang violates the people's constitutional rights. However, it noted that neither Duterte nor the state is sponsoring the killings. (READ: Draft Senate report on killings: Oplan TokHang unconstitutional)

Karapatan also blasted Duterte for appointing Lieutenant General Eduardo Año as the new Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff.

A veteran intelligence officer, Año scored some of the biggest arrests of communist leaders including Communist Party of the Philippines leaders Benito and Wilma Tiamzon, now temporarily freed from detention as NDF consultants in the peace negotiations.

"Año is expected to adhere to the same counter-insurgency framework that results in more human rights violations,” Palabay said referring to Oplan Bayanihan.

About 10,000 protesters are expected to converge at Liwasang Bonifacio where they will hold a program late Saturday afternoon. After the program, they will march to the historic Mendiola bridge near Malacañang where they will torch the effigy.

In July, militant groups broke tradition when they shunned the usual effigy of the sitting president and featured a peace-oriented mural as the centerpiece of their State of the Nation Address rally – a reflection of their alliance with the Duterte administration. – Rappler.com</s>Business has never been more booming for undertaker Alejandro Ormeneta but, after five months on the frontlines of the Philippines’ brutal drug war, he just wants the killings to stop.

Ormeneta and his colleagues at one funeral parlour in Manila say they retrieve an average of five corpses every night, mostly from slums, and his grisly new routine has left him questioning the savage forces unleashed by President Rodrigo Duterte’s crackdown on crime.

“This shouldn’t happen. They are people, not animals,” Ormeneta, 47, told journalists as he recalled taking out three nails hammered into the skull of an alleged drug trafficker.

“I think he was still alive when they hammered the nails. They tied him up first, put tape around his head, then hammered the nails in...that must have been very painful. I felt sorry for him,” he said.

On a typical night recently, Ormeneta walked down a narrow slum alleyway into a shanty where masked assailants had shot a man dead, the victim’s body still smelling of alcohol that he must have been drinking shortly before being killed.

The victim’s sister wailed as police turned over his body on the concrete floor soaked in blood and revealed multiple shots to his head and body.

Police later said Danilo Bolante, 47, had sold shabu, the cheap crystal methamphetamine that Duterte says is ruining society and must be eradicated.

But his sister, Chona Balina, insisted he had stopped and had even reported himself to police as part of Duterte’s campaign to pressure drug traffickers and users into surrendering, known as Tokhang.

“Why launch Tokhang if that’s what they are going to do with people who are changing?” Balina asked.

Duterte won elections this year in a landslide after promising an unprecedented war on drugs in which tens of thousands of people would be killed.

Part of his stump speech on the campaign trail was jocular business advice for people to set up funeral homes in preparation for the killings.

“The funeral parlours will be packed...I’ll supply the bodies,” he said, to cheers and laughter at one campaign rally.

MONEY MAKING

Duterte has been true to his word with police reporting killing more than 2,000 people they accused of being drug suspects and another 3,000 people murdered by unknown gunmen, triggering fears of widespread extrajudicial killings.

The deaths look certain to continue with Duterte saying in September he would be happy to slaughter three million addicts and repeatedly vowing no let-up until the illegal trade was eliminated.

While there are vocal critics of the drug war at home and abroad, surveys show an overwhelming majority of Filipinos support the bloodbath.

Still, funeral parlours, while busy, are not necessarily making lots of money, with relatives of many victims often very poor.

“I don’t know how we can afford this because I have no job,” Balina said after agreeing to a funeral package valued at 62,000 pesos ($1,250) with Veronica Memorial Chapels for services that include embalming, a casket and the wake.

However Teodocio said he often gave discounts, especially for families of alleged drug users, some of whom paid in coins or raised money from gambling at wakes.</s>MANILA (Reuters) - Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Sunday rejected a demand by Maoist-led rebels to free more prisoners as part of a ceasefire deal, saying he had made enough concessions and was willing to let peace talks collapse if necessary.

For decades the government and the communists' political arm, National Democratic Front, have held intermittent peace negotiations but without success. The release of political prisoners has proved a major stumbling block.

Before the resumption of peace negotiations in Oslo in August, four years after the collapse of the last attempt, Duterte let 22 rebel leaders out on bail, including two senior guerrilla commanders.

Last month, he also freed four elderly and sick prisoners on humanitarian grounds.

But rebel leaders immediately demanded the release of 130 more rebels, a call Duterte has ignored until now.

Since the rebellion erupted nearly five decades ago, it has killed about 40,000 people and stunted growth in resource-rich rural areas of the Philippines. The rebels' armed wing, New People's Army, is active in almost all but the Muslim majority provinces, and are particularly strong in the mining areas in the southern island of Mindanao.

"I wanted them to start the talks but they want me to free 130 more, so I told them, no, I cannot," Duterte told soldiers at an army base north of Manila, close to where NPA first emerged.

"As a matter of fact, I conceded too much too soon. Now, it's up to them if they will terminate the peace talks. Let them terminate it. I have freed their leaders, what more do you ask of us? I am running out of cards."

Duterte said violence between the two sides has declined in the last six months. The two sides have held two rounds of talks since August and plan to meet again early next year with the aim of agreeing on a set of political, economic and social reforms to address the rebellion within 12 months.

The rebels want farmlands to be distributed to landless farmers, the nationalization of industries and to share political power with the government.

Duterte, former mayor of Davao, a city that was once seen as a breeding ground for rebels, told soldiers at the base that he knew they were hurting from his decision to re-start peace talks and free top communist rebels, but that he was determined to end the conflict.

About 500 people suspected to be rebels are in jail, which include two men who were convicted of killing the U.S. military adviser, Colonel James Rowe, in 1989.</s>A worker arranges bodies in various stages of decomposition at the morgue of Henry's Funeral Homes in Manila (AFP Photo/Noel CELIS)

Manila (AFP) - Business has never been busier for undertaker Alejandro Ormeneta but, after five months on the frontlines of the Philippines' brutal drug war, he just wants the killings to stop.

Ormeneta and his colleagues at one funeral parlour in Manila say they are retrieving an average of five corpses a night, mostly from slums, and his grisly new routine has left him questioning the savage forces unleashed by President Rodrigo Duterte's crackdown on crime.

"This shouldn't happen, they are people, not animals," Ormeneta, 47, told AFP as he recalled taking out three nails hammered into the skull of an alleged drug trafficker.

"I think he was still alive when they hammered the nails. They tied him up first, put tape around his head, then hammered the nails in... that must have been so painful. I felt so sorry for him."

On a typical night recently, Ormeneta walked down a narrow slum alleyway into a shanty where masked assailants had shot a man dead, the victim's body still smelling of alcohol that he must have been drinking shortly before being killed.

The victim's sister wailed as police turned over his body on the concrete floor soaked in blood and revealed multiple gunshots to his head and body.

Police later told AFP that Danilo Bolante, 47, had sold shabu, the cheap crystal methamphetamine that Duterte says is ruining society and must be eradicated.

But his sister, Chona Balina, insisted he had stopped and had even reported himself to police as part of Duterte's campaign to pressure drug traffickers and users into surrendering, known as Tokhang.

"Why launch Tokhang if that's what they are going to do with people who are already changing," Balina said.

Duterte won presidential elections this year in a landslide after promising an unprecedented war on drugs in which tens of thousands of people would be killed.

Part of his stump speech on the campaign trail was jocular business advice for people to set up funeral homes in preparation for the killings.

"The funeral parlours will be packed... I'll supply the dead bodies," he said, to cheers and laughter at one campaign rally.

Duterte has been true to his word with police reporting killing more than 2,000 people they accused of being drug suspects and another 3,000 people murdered by unknown gunmen, triggering fears of widespread extrajudicial killings.

The deaths look certain to continue with Duterte saying in September he would be "happy to slaughter" three million addicts and repeatedly vowing no let-up until the illegal drug trade has been eliminated.

While there are vocal critics of the drug war at home and abroad, surveys show an overwhelming majority of Filipinos support Duterte's crusade.

Still, funeral parlours, while busy, are not necessarily making lots of money, with relatives of many victims often too poor to be able to pay for a funeral.

"I don't know how we can afford this because I have no job," Balina said after agreeing to a funeral package worth 62,000 pesos ($1,250) with Veronica Memorial Chapels for services that include embalming, a casket and the wake.

Funeral director Rico Teodocio said prices ranged from 18,000 to 400,000 pesos ($360 to $8,000).

However Teodocio said he often gave discounts, especially for families of alleged drug users, some of whom paid in coins or raised money from gambling at wakes. He said some also begged cemeteries for free caskets.

"I don't know if pathetic is the right term to use but you really pity them. We suffer too because we give our lowest price," he said.

Veronica and other funeral parlours AFP visited also reported that bodies were frequently left unclaimed because relatives of the victims did not know about the death, were afraid of being linked to drugs or were simply too poor.

In these situations, the bodies are kept for two to three months then buried in public cemeteries, at the expense of funeral homes.

"It's sad. They die without anyone coming for them," Ormeneta said, pointing to black corpses at the back of the morgue.

Another barrier to funeral parlour success is corruption, with some policemen taking commissions for informing funeral parlours of people who have been killed.

Duterte openly joked about the graft during the campaign.

"These policemen are naughty. It's true they have a contract. They call the funeral home: 'There's a body. Claim it here... I'll just drop by for the commission tomorrow'," he said.

Two funeral parlour owners told AFP on condition of anonymity that it was the victims' families who shouldered the burden of this long-running practice. "How do you recoup that cost? You have to add it on to the price," said an executive who has been in the funeral industry for decades. But while some undertakers treat the profession as just a business, Ormeneta, a father of four and Catholic who has been in the industry for 18 years, has been emotionally impacted by the drug war. He said he often thought about the person with nails in his skull, and had a firm conviction small-time traffickers did not deserve to die. "They are victims of drugs. They needed to stave off hunger, perhaps for their children. They should have been given a chance to change," he said. "Isn't that written in the Bible? Thou shalt not kill."
In the Philippines, demonstrators call for President Rodrigo Duterte to address extrajudicial killings linked to the Philippine Drug War, ongoing military operations against communist rebels, and the controversial burial of Ferdinand Marcos in the Heroes' Cemetery. An effigy of Marcos was made as a centerpiece of the protest.