Rebels call Duterte’s leadership ‘macho-fascist’

From the Mindanao Examiner (Feb 15): Rebels call Duterte’s leadership ‘macho-fascist’

Communist rebels have strongly criticized President Rodrigo Duterte who ordered government troops to shoot women fighters in their genital.

Dencio Madrigal, a spokesman for the New People’s Army (NPA), said Duterte – whom he called foulmouthed – has only demonstrated how his “macho-fascist leadership” belittles women.
“The foulmouthed President Rodrigo Duterte exposes himself in his vaunt about commanding the soldiers to shoot women NPA members in their private parts. Duterte’s yarn is not amusing and not a fitting joke. Mocking women and making lewd remarks against them proves Duterte’s fascist offensiveness.”

“He is deliberately indifferent to the women’s sufferings in as much as he is uncaring to the people’s adversities. And he dissolutely promotes chauvinism and violence against women,” Madrigal said in a statement sent to the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner.

Duterte, a former mayor of Davao City, who previously supported the NPA, made the statement in a recent talk with former rebels. “Tell the soldiers. There’s a new order coming from the mayor. We won’t kill you. We will just shoot your vagina,” he said, adding, “if there is no vagina, it would be useless.”

“In reducing women to their genitalia, Duterte is demonstrating how his macho-fascist leadership belittles women. He also exposes the grave insolence of his tyrant regime to the basic rights and lives of the women and the poor Filipinos. Women are particularly affected by his tyrant and anti-poor policies such as encouraging extrajudicial killings, implementing the TRAIN (Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion) law, imposing the martial law in Mindanao and others.”

“Duterte is waging a war to defend US imperialism and exterminate the people’s dissention. The women who joined the NPA oppose this war and they courageously fight in order to emancipate not just themselves but the entire oppressed Filipinos. They are determined to win the struggle, achieve a just society and build a better life for all,” Madrigal said.

Madrigal also encouraged women who are opposed to Duterte’s rule, to join the rebel group and defend the rights of the oppressed. “It is a right of every woman to struggle against an oppressive state. We encourage them to join the revolutionary people’s army because it espouses the uprightness, integrity and protection of their rights,” he said.

Lawyer Harry Roque, the Presidential spokesman, said Duterte’s statement was only a joke and should not be taken literally. Duterte also encouraged tribesmen to enlist as government militias and promised them at least P25,000 reward for every rebel they killed.

https://mindanaoexaminer.com/rebels-call-dutertes-leadership-macho-fascist/