By Levi A. So
MANILA, Philippines — The Human Rights Watch said President Rodrigo Duterte's repeated floating of martial law in a country that lived under two decades of Marcos dictatorship is extremely chilling.
Imposing martial rule would also lead to an "immeasurably worse" future for the country given Duterte's bloody war on drugs, Human Rights Watch Asia Deputy Director Phelim Kine said in a recent interview with the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs.
"One thing that is worth noting is that when President Duterte comes under criticism about this killing campaign, he often says that things could get worse because he could just declare martial law. This is something that is extremely chilling for Filipinos who lived under the two-decade Marcos dictatorship," Kine said.
Duterte, who declared a state of natural emergency in response to a bombing in Davao City last September, has mentioned declaring martial law in Mindanao to curb extremism and crime.
"The fact that he is willing to say that with such regularity really sends some chills up people's spines, because that would make things immeasurably worse."
Kine called for an urgent investigation by the United Nations on the drug killings, saying that the Duterte administration and the Philippine National Police are incapable of addressing the issue with the level of seriousness it requires.
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