It is undeniable that the amount of extrajudicial killings have jumped during Rodrigo

Duterte's administration. He, indeed, created a widespread and on-going program that encourages
police brutality and the inhumane acts of violence, humiliation and abuse to the people of this
country. The war on drug was presented to us as if it's a solution, as the drug issues in the
Philippines have always been so rampant, but it only gave birth to many other issues including
the uncountable extrajudicial killings, human rights violation and impunity. Duterte's policies
gave a leeway for violence and abuse to become the norm in our country. Accroding to Rappler,
in a study made by different parties such as the Philippines Drug Enforcement Agency,
Karapatan, Global Witness, National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, a whopping 27,000-
30,000 are killed during the six-year term of the Duterte administration. It includes the civilians
killed vigilante style, journalists, activists, human rights defenders, politicians, and those people
accused of drug involvement.

This is worrying as the obvious violation of human rights is still rampant in our country
today. During the lockdown, the humiliation and abuse the violaters of the implemented curfew
went through was horrible and traumatizing. In August 2021, the news of a curfew violator
forced to do 300 squats and died shortly after made noise. This is only one of the many police
burtality that the Duterte administration had encouraged, how much more crimes were done
under the cover of authority and impunity? Only a few were documented, and much less were
punished for their acts. There is someone behind the scene pulling the strings so that only a few
were punished for their crimes. Our government is corrupt, and I fear that it will continue to be in
the Marcos administration.

During its first few months of its six-year term, the Marcos administration has failed to
address the on-going violations of human rights. President Bongbong Marcos' term was
christened by the death of the veteran journalist Rey Blanco on September 18, 2022. And now
the investigation of the murder of another veteran journalist Percy Lapid is still a case not yet
closed. They are not only silencing the media, but they are also getting rid of activists and people
who oppose them, spreading false and propagandist information on social media to manipulate
the public view of them. It is sickening and disturbing to watch unfold.

Human Rights is an integral part of living as it is our protection and preservation, and it
should be given to us freely and without condition. We have these rights to protect ourselves and
to ensure that we will be living in a safe and secure environment where people who violate our
rights will be punished. In today's time, it is very concerning to see that we're now living in fear
and constant vigilance because we don't know when other people might harm us. To add to this,
even the government that should be protecting our rights, is enabling the violation of it and is
protecting those who committed the crimes. There are things we cannot control, like the greed
and malicious intent of the people around us, but there is something we can do: Speak up against
these injustices. We are the masses and the power should be in our hands. If we all come together
to fight against these injustices, we will be able to win against them. Stop supporting corrupt
officials. The change should first start with ourselves, before we expect others to do it too. Greta
Thunberg, one of the youngest and well-known activist of this time had said, “Activism works.
So what I’m telling you to do now is to act. Because no one is too small to make a difference.”