Rodrigo Duterte is hell-bent in using the national emergency to forward his tyrannical interest. In his press conference, Duterte has resorted to cheap lies and smear-campaign to justify his possible declaration of Martial Law. He is feeding the public with false reports of encounters with the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the New People’s Army, which had already been debunked even by the local government units of the regions, to preempt his absolute control over the entire bureaucracy.

Duterte frames the NPA as a hindrance to the COVID-19 humanitarian and relief activities, but the masses know that since the beginning of the pandemic, the Communist Party of the Philippines had already directed all its revolutionary organizations to be at the forefront in mobilizing the masses to respond scientifically and comprehensively against the spread of COVID-19. Information dissemination drives where launched online and even in far-flung provinces all-over the country. Red fighters were tasked to lead broad masses of peasants in ensuring agricultural produce for communities in the countryside in spite of the enhance community quarantine. Meanwhile, the president relied on corporate support and the charity of private citizens to aid poor Filipinos due to the unjust delay in the so-called social amelioration program. Despite the unbounded emergency powers that the Congress had given him, Duterte proved that he is the champion of miserable excuses, pinpointing, and dictatorial maneuvers. Duterte should be held accountable for his inefficiency and incompetency in ensuring medical services and economic aid for the people.

May we remind the imbecile president that before the national emergency, he dismissed COVID-19 as a threat to our country and the proposals of travel restrictions from other countries. It is Duterte who ordered the arrests and death of Filipinos violating his strict regulations, causing nationwide abuse of power, illegal arrest, violation of protected speech, and deaths. Duterte even withheld proposals of debt cancellation to keep its imperial masters satiated. It is Duterte who chose not to conduct mass testing and increase medical support but instead chose to implement more militaristic solutions to combat the virus in futility.

Under the pretense of lawlessness, Duterte will surely impose Martial Law. There is indeed lawless violence in the country right now, but not of the NPA who strictly adhere to the rules of war, but lawlessness caused by state elements. He is using the same old narrative of his fascist idol Ferdinand Marcos. He sows fear, paranoia, and terror on the people and uses this to monopolize power in the entire government and put forward the interest of his cronies. The president cannot even produce a single evidence of human rights violation committed by the NPA while evidences of the AFP and PNP’s human rights violation are recorded everywhere in the country.

Moreover, the CPP-NPA-NDF had already extended its unilateral ceasefire until April 30 in response to the call of the United Nations to focus all efforts in battling COVID-19. On the other hand, the AFP has been violating its own declarations even before the expiration of their own ceasefire. Most recently, aerial bombardments were reported in Sarangani province last April 19, making a total of 6 bombing campaigns committed by the AFP since Duterte declared COVID-19 as a public health emergency. It would appear that aerial bombardment is now an imbecile part of the AFP’s standard procedure in conducting relief work,” says Marco Valbuena, CPP’s Chief Information Officer. AFP and PNP offensive operations were at least carried out in 216 villages in 104 towns and 31 provinces throughout the country. It is the AFP who instigated military actions in the countryside and wasted millions of tax payers’ money. Even Bong Go’s balik probinsiya proposal which will definitely flop unless landlessness is resolved in the country and minimum wages is nationalized. If those conditions are not met, the exodus of workers to provinces will only benefit huge corporations who will be able to continue their operations despite the crisis while paying the cheaper labor in the regions outside NCR.

It is also important to note that the NPA cannot actually disrupt relief efforts, because no relief efforts are being conducted to peasants in the provinces and the majority of poor Filipinos. The state itself reported that less than 20% of non-4Ps social amelioration program beneficiaries were given due aid. Mass testing is also not being conducted in the cities, much more in the provinces. Duterte is painting a picture that the revolutionary movement is crippling their humanitarian efforts when in fact, his regime cannot do proper relief in the first place.

Duterte even had the guts to implicate and red-tag organizations, such as Karapatan, in its string of lies to preempt his martial rule. His threat against legal progressive organizations should be taken by everyone as a serious order to his fascist machineries. They will target, not only rebels, but everyone who dare defy the orders of the president. With the worsening social conditions brought by state neglect and a harder lockdown, more Filipinos filled with discontent, hunger, and anger will definitely be the subject of repression.

Duterte complains on the state’s expenses in his counter-insurgency. What he fails to inform he public is that his government is the one who suspended the peace process and chose not to resolve the roots of the armed conflict. Duterte even ordered the arrest and filing of trumped-up charges of more than 500 political prisoners, raids in offices of peace advocates, and the murders of hundreds of political activists. Instead of discussing socio-economic reforms with the NDF, Duterte chose to militarize his Cabinet with the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict and wasted millions of money in futile attempts to curb the armed revolution calling for the end of imperialist plunder, genuine agrarian reform, national industrialization, and access to basic services. Progressive forces even called for the realignment of intelligence and NTF-ELCAC’s billion-peso budget to help the COVID-19 efforts, but Duterte defended his lump sum fund.

Duterte is ultimately culpable for the catastrophe that the country is facing right now. The administration is not capable of handling the national emergency. He is desperately pointing fingers to excuse himself from the problems that he has created and maximize the current social unrest, and without a doubt, to justify his Martial Law.