CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY——-The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), which has called for the ouster of President Rodrigo Duterte, has claimed that the aging leader is becoming “an international pariah” because of the recent resolution of the European Union (EU) parliament that threatens to revoke the country’s trading privileges with the bloc of 27 states.
In a statement on Saturday, CPP information chief Marco Valbuena likened Duterte to the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos and other former dictators who fell from grace because of their rule’s dastardly record on the respect for human rights.
“Much like Marcos before his ouster, Duterte has now become an international pariah,” said Valbuena.
“The EU parliament vote confirms how isolated the Duterte regime is, not only from the Filipino people but from the international community as well,” Valbuena added.
“He is now among the ranks of (Germany’s Adolf) Hitler, (Italy’s Benito) Mussolini, Marcos, (Indonesia’s) Suharto, (Uganda’s) Idi Amin, (Belarus’ Alexander) Lukashenko, (South Korea’s) Park Chung Hee and other detested dictators who butchered their people and plundered their nation,” Valbuena further said.
Human rights advocates are taking Duterte to task for the thousands of deaths generated by his administration’s so-called war on drugs, and the killings of activists.
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque has said that the EU parliament’s vote was triggered by “a classic case of misinformation” spearheaded by CPP founding chair Jose Maria Sison who is on self-exile in the Netherlands since 1987.
But Valbuena said Roque is just “red-tagging obsessed.”