a historical day

12 Mar, 2025

Duterte arrested!

It has been a historical week for my country. The ICC has issued a warrant of arrest against Rodrigo Duterte who orchestrated the killings during his presidentail reign that started in 2016 under the mask of a war on drugs.

I logged in on my social media accounts and scrolled through several memes such as one of Duterte's lapdog, a senator, bringing a box of pizza to the gates of the airbase where a chartered plane is supposed to pick Duterte up to bring him to The Hague. Then Duterte's daughter tyring to appeal to the masses via Instagram Stories that his father's arrest is illegal and that he is a frail old man that doesn't deserve this "treatment". People are having a field day pointing out that her rhinoplasty was paid for by taxpayers' money in response.

While I have thoroughly enjoyed seeing the dedication cakes welcoming Duterte to The Hauge, the poetry of this misogynist's arrest on Women's Month and our making fun for this good news, it didn't stop there.

Stories from the drug war are once again being brought to light. Apart from the grief, now comes the hope that justice will be delivered for the families of the victims. I have always tried to read each of these stories and remember them. Today, I learned about the murder of Nercy Galicio. She was 16 when her body was found murdered on the side of a road kilometers away from their house. She kept a diary and loved Hello Kitty. She loved the character so much, that her wake and funeral was Hello Kitty-themed¹.

Nercy is just one of thousands. She was just a girl. But this is what happens to a nation when its president is someone like Rodridgo Duterte, who has ordered the entire police force to shoot to kill anyone suspected of a crime related to drugs. As always the Duterte family's audacity is nonexistent as they try to petition for an undoing of this arrest. I might as well say that they are also delusional.

Whatever happens next, the arrest alone is enough for now.

The arc of moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice. Today’s just the first step of it all.

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12 Mar, 2025