Dear US Legislators,
This coming Thursday, July 20 at 10 AM Washington DC time (10 PM in Manila of same day), the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission will hold a hearing on the "human rights consequence of the war on drugs in the Philippines."
That's right. You Americans right there in your own country will be going to conduct a hearing of our situation as Filipinos here in far away Philippines.
In this hearing, you will have as witnesses NON FILIPINOS and NONE from our OWN SOVEREIGN GOVERNMENT.
And as it turns out, you will be presented with data on alleged latest Extra Judicial Killings which are not validated with our own Philippine National Police, but by dubious organizations that are funded by former Filipinos who are now US citizens who want to oust a democratically elected and hugely popular president.
Interestingly, this hearing is scheduled days before President Duterte himself will face our very own Congress in our version of the State of the Union address (we call it State of the Nation Address or SONA).
For most of you who really do not possess any in-depth information on the real situation in the Philippines, what you will hear, see and read will probably shock you, and trigger an outrage against our government.
Nothing less will be expected.
This hearing will be justified as part of your typical plan to connect or tie up aid and military support that you provide, with upholding human rights.
Really, it's an old carrot-and-stick routine. And quintessentially interventionist.
The problem with what you are about to do is that you wrongfully cling to the notion that we remain to be your "little brown brother" whom you can push around anytime you feel like doing so.
And it does not help when we have former Filipinos who have already pledged allegiance to your flag who are traitorously abetting your arrogance.
Here's the thing though...
In this new age of digital social milieu, we no longer see ourselves as your little brothers, and you are no longer the big bully.
Personally, I resent this unsolicited imposition and intervention. And I am aghast at your audacious behavior. If we cut through all the BS, this hearing is nothing but an accommodation of a well funded lobby that aims to condition your members and the american public that something is seriously wrong with the Philippines right now.
I am telling you this -- we are actually on the right path. Our country is now being governed by a bold, decisive and empathetic leadership. We Filipinos fully support our government, especially in its campaign against the rampant and full blown drug abuse problem.
This war on drugs is a necessary first step to address a societal menace that has destroyed thousands of INNOCENT FILIPINO FAMILIES, whether they are the victims or they became the criminals.
This is a humungous problem that flourished and proliferated mainly due to greed, incompetence and apathy of previous leaderships, especially the one before this current administration.
This current war on drugs in our country is one maverick program that is so wrongfully presented as an act of genocide when in truth, it is a radical approach that consist of surrender, arrest, elimination and rehabilitation. Elimination being my operative word to describe the killings that occur as a result of legitimate police operations against hardened criminals and drug syndicate members.
Contrary to what will be presented to you by ill-informed, unfairly prejudiced and highly compromised organizations like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, aided by sleazy Fil-American entities like IDefend, the real situation in our country is not chaotic, and there is no massacre of the poor.
Contrary to our deceitful and dumb Vice President, we do not feel hopeless nor helpless.
We certainly do not need your intrusion and meddling into our affairs, and we do not need your hypocritical righteous imposition.
Even as we still have a lot to learn and to mature as citizens, we have grown a lot to be more discerning.
More importantly, we are now more assertive and cognizant of our place in the global community, in which we do not feel to be under you, but side by side together with the rest of the world.
In as much as I cannot do anything that would stop that hearing, and its consequence, I will simply convey my sentiment as a Filipino.
America maybe a superpower, and you Americans may continue to believe that you are superior to us.
But you don't own us.
Never had.
Never will.
With all due respect,
Mark Lopez
We are a sovereign country, please respect our sovereignty. --Rodrigo Roa Duterte, President of the Republic of the Philippines
Emphasis are mine. Taken from Mark Lopez' Facebook account today, July 20th, 2017. Please share if deemed informative to wider audience.
Disclaimer: screenshot / facebook
https://www.facebook.com/maclopez0769/posts/2161329027427085?pnref=story