Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III attends the Akbayan congress with Sen. Risa Hontiveros and former Commission on Human Rights (CHR) commissioner Etta Rosales at the Capitol Social Hall.
LEADERS of the militant partylist group Akbayan marked its 20th anniversary yesterday by calling on Filipinos to unite and protest the human rights violations committed in the government’s war on illegal drugs.
The Akbayan congress held at the Cebu Provincial Capitol Social Hall also drew delegates of political parties from abroad.
In a speech, Sen. Risa Hontiveros said institutions that protect democracy are under siege by a “creeping dictatorship.”
Hontiveros, who won a congressional seat under the Akbayan banner, said the administration’s war against illegal drugs is “a guise for a war against the poor” which resulted in the deaths of thousands.
The senator also denounced the deportation of Giacomo Filibeck, deputy secretary general of the Party of European Socialists, who was invited to the Akbayan congress.
Filibeck was held at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport and then deported after being blacklisted for “engaging in illegal political activities.”