Bato arestuhin, Sara panagutin, Marcos Jr. singilin! Hold them accountable for neglect, corruption, and violations against Indigenous Peoples!

KATRIBU and other national minority organizations joins today’s protest for accountability at the Senate as they convene the impeachment court against Sara Duterte. The P560M in confidential and questionable funds tied to the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education, as well as the unexplained wealth P6.7B worth of transactions by Sara must be explained to the Filipino people through being held at trial. We shall be more vigilant than ever at this crucial moment, especially at a time when ordinary Filipinos suffer from the lack of social services, budget cuts, rising prices, and the misuse of public funds in scandals such as the flood control controversy. The Filipino people have every right to question how such immense wealth can exist while the masses continue to struggle daily for survival.

Sara Duterte has repeatedly attempted to evade accountability through political maneuvering and Senate theatrics, but this is something the people cannot allow. We continue to push for investigations and proceedings that expose the truth behind corruption, abuse of power, and violence against the people. And if the system once again fails to deliver justice, then it will be the people themselves who will hold these officials accountable.

The recent events that transpired in the Senate revealed to the Filipino masses the rotten nature of the political system that exists in the Philippines. The Senate and the ruling classes have once again shown the lengths they will go to protect those from their own camp, while maneuvering against other camps of the ruling elite, further intensifying the country’s political crisis. While they turn the Senate into a circus, the suffering masses are left watching, burdened by worsening poverty, repression, and neglect.

Bato dela Rosa must be arrested and held accountable for his fascist crimes against the Filipino people. He was one of the key figures and chief implementers of Duterte’s bloody war on drugs, the very same crimes against humanity that Rodrigo Duterte now faces before the ICC in The Hague. The Senate’s move to place Bato under “protective custody” is exactly why the people continue to push for his arrest and trial before the ICC. The current political system in the Philippines—controlled by the corrupt, the rich, and the powerful—is incapable of genuinely holding Bato accountable for the thousands who were killed under the drug war.

And if we demand accountability from Sara Duterte for corruption and abuse of public trust, and call for Bato’s arrest for his fascism, then we must also demand the same from Bongbong Marcos—the chief defender of the rotten system that continues to oppress the Filipino people. Marcos Jr. remains the protector of the very structures responsible for corruption, militarization, and human rights violations carried out by the AFP and PNP. He presents himself as a friend of the masses, yet his power and privilege exist precisely because the people continue to be exploited.

We are about to enter one year since the flood control scandal and since Marcos Jr. publicly declared “mahiya naman kayo” against corrupt officials. He promised investigations, accountability, and the imprisonment of the so-called “big fish” involved in corruption. Yet all of it has proven to be nothing more than political theater. No truly powerful figure behind the plunder of public funds has been jailed, and Marcos Jr. himself continues to live luxuriously in the face of the people’s worsening hardships.

The call is clear: Bato arestuhin, Sara panagutin, Marcos Jr. singilin!

Indigenous Peoples, as one of the most marginalized sectors in Philippine society, have long suffered under their rule and influence. We will demand accountability from this corrupt system headed by Marcos Jr. for their squandering of funds that should be allotted to public services for our communities. We will demand accountability for their enforcement of landgrabbing pf ancestral lands and militarization. Let us unite under the call for justice, accountability, and genuine democracy. Let us unite to fight corruption, fascism, and the continued exploitation of the Filipino people and Indigenous Peoples nationwide.

Reference: Funa-ay Claver, Secretary General