DEMOCRACY-FREEDOM: MANILA Philippines – More netizens join call for Duterte’s resignation
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MANILA, Philippines — An online petition calling for President Rodrigo Duterte’s resignation over his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as his alleged subservience to China has gathered nearly 60,000 signatures on Monday, as an offshoot of an earlier, similar trend holding the chief executive to account for his failures in this public health crisis.
At press time, the Change.org petition, “Save the Nation! Duterte Resign!” by Filipinos for Duterte’s resignation is nearing its 75,000 target, and counts among its initial signatories lawyers, academics, health workers; and youth, religious and civic leaders.
This is not the first time people have called on Mr. Duterte to resign. Recently, the hashtag #DuterteResign has stayed on top of the country’s trending topics as the country hit record infections and deaths a year into the pandemic.
Edelina dela Paz, chair of the Health Alliance for Democracy and retired associate professor from UP College of Manila, said the petition originally started out among their group of health workers disgruntled by the militaristic response to the public health crisis.
“People are already fed up with what’s happening. They keep saying [we had an] excellent response to the pandemic, but what is excellent in the fact that so many people are dying and our hospitals are full? How can that be excellent?” she said in an interview. “If they continue to deny their failures then there’s really nothing left to do but resign … if they don’t know how to look at the hard realities.”
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‘Life or death’
Even waiting for the 2022 elections to replace this government, she said, would mean “life or death” for many people especially if their failures continue.
“So many things could happen in one year. If he steps down immediately, we might still be able to turn things around. We have constitutional succession in place. The Vice President (Leni Robredo) might be more consultative and more deliberate in choosing leaders to help in this crisis.”
While petitions are by themselves unlikely to unseat a president, groups say they are an important barometer of public satisfaction under this administration.
“Those signatures mean a lot in terms of people signifying their disgruntlement with this government, which likes to trumpet survey results saying the President has a high approval rating,” Dela Paz said. “This will show them that many people are no longer happy with his administration and debunk all those surveys.”
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Scathing indictment
The petition’s note is a scathing indictment of Mr. Duterte’s alleged ”incompetence, brutality, corruption and kowtowing to foreign powers.”
In particular, they slammed the chief executive for focusing on his crackdown against drugs and communists instead of directing the government’s resources to solving the crisis.
These “failures of leadership,” the petitioners said, was only magnified by the COVID-19 pandemic that hit the country.
In particular, the petitioners slammed as “unforgivable” Mr. Duterte’s dismissive attitude toward COVID-19’s toll on the country—famously saying the pandemic was “maliit na bagay (a small thing)” even as the country continued to suffer the brunt of harsh lockdowns and restrictions crunching the economy.
“We deserve and demand better. Our country is on the brink of disaster. At the time the nation needs him most, Duterte is a total failure as a leader. He must step down,” they said.
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