Philippine elections were not ‘free, honest, fair’: Rights defenders

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) - The Philippine general elections held in May were “not free, honest, or fair by international standards,” a coalition of rights defenders alleged on Tuesday.

“It was a classic ‘guns, goons, and gold’ contest,” the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) said in its findings.

The Philippines held its general elections last month in which Ferdinand Marcos Jr. emerged as the winner with an unprecedented lead.

Marcos Jr., son of former dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr. whose rule was overthrown in a popular revolt in 1986, is set to take oath on Thursday.

The ICHRP said the election campaign was “marked by a successful massive social media campaign to rebrand the kleptocratic Marcos family’s brutal dictatorship as the golden age of Philippine politics.”

“The return of the disgraced Marcos family to center stage in the Philippines is consistent with the feudal dynastic system that is the centerpiece of political life in the country,” it added.

The report also pointed to a “higher level of failure of the electronic voting system than ever before, along with a higher level of blatant vote-buying, a disturbing level of red-tagging of candidates and parties, as well as a number of incidents of deadly violence.”

It also called on the international community to “continue to hold the outgoing (President Rodrigo) Duterte team accountable for its abysmal human rights record.”

“There should be no hint of a green light for continued human rights violations under the incoming Marcos-Duterte administration,” the ICHRP added.