Thousands rally, warn of Duterte ‘dictatorship’

ACTIVISTS AND political opponents of President Rodrigo R. Duterte held rallies on Thursday to warn against what they see as the emergence of a dictatorship under the straightforward, hugely popular leader.

Politicians, indigenous people, church leaders, businessmen, and leftists marched, staged rallies and attended masses to denounce Mr. Duterte, accusing him of abuses and authoritarianism similar to that of the late dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos.

The events were to mark the 45th anniversary of the declaration of martial law under Mr. Marcos, which is remembered by many Filipinos as brutal and oppressive.

Vice- President Maria Leonor G. Robredo appeared at a mass at the University of the Philippines, traditionally a hotbed of political activism, and was due to appear at a rally of the opposition Liberal Party she leads.

Ms. Robredo, who was not Mr. Duterte’s running mate, said Filipinos born after the Marcos era should not be complacent and should recognize signs of “rising tyranny.”

“If we do not remember the past, we are condemned to repeat it,” she said in a statement. “Sadly those who are deceived do not even know that they are walking a doomed path.”

Mr. Marcos declared martial law in 1972, a year ahead of elections in which he was ineligible to run, and held power for 14 years until his removal in a bloodless, army- backed “people’s power” uprising.

He abolished democratic institutions and was accused of killing, torturing and “disappearing” thousands of opponents.

Mr. Duterte, although having won the presidency under the banner of a political party that fought Mr. Marcos, has several times expressed admiration for the late dictator, and his fiercest critics are alarmed by the former mayor’s autocratic rhetoric and his disdain for those who oppose him.