Statement of ATOM on Vice Pres. Sara Duterte Comparing Dad Rodrigo with Ninoy Aquino Jr.
ATOM – August Twenty-One Movement released a statement expressing their belief that the Ninoy-Duterte comparison can be a political strategy.
Vice Pres. Sara Duterte is currently in The Hague, Netherlands to support her father, former Pres. Rodrigo Roa Duterte, who is under the custody of the International Criminal Court. The former President who was arrested in Manila last March 11 is detained in an ICC detention facility in The Hague.
Recently, Vice Pres. Sara Duterte revealed that former Pres. Rodrigo Roa Duterte wants to come home to the Philippines. According to the Vice President, she told former Pres. Rodrigo Duterte he may have similar fate with Ninoy Aquino Jr. if he would insist to go home to the Philippines.
According to the Vice President, former Pres. Duterte expressed readiness to have a similar fate with Ninoy as long as he can return to the Philippines. The late former Senator just arrived in the Philippines after a three-year exile in the United States. He was a staunch critic of the administration of then President Ferdinand Marcos Sr.
However, before Ninoy set foot on Philippine lands again, he was shot at the then Manila International Airport, which is now named after him, the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA). It caused the death of the democracy icon.
The statement of Vice Pres. Sara Duterte drawing comparison on former Pres. Rodrigo Roa Duterte and the late former Sen. Ninoy Aquino Jr. gained different reactions from the people. There are also groups who issued statement following the statement of the Vice President.
Based on a report on GMA News, through a statement, the August Twenty-One Movement or ATOM expressed its belief that the comparison between former Pres. Duterte and the late former Sen. Ninoy Aquino can be part of the political strategies of the Duterte clan. The country is heading towards the May 2025 Elections.
”Because Filipinos love underdogs, after all. But we are sorry to say that President Duterte is a poor copycat of Ninoy Aquino. He has to answer to the thousands of families who lost their loved ones and were deprived of their due process,” ATOM stated.
Based on the report, the group also stated that Aquino came home on August 21, 1983 carrying the hope to convince the then ill Marcos Sr. to bring back democracy in the Philippines by holding free elections. It stated that there is a different case with former Pres. Duterte who “hoping to come home and escape accountability to the charge of crimes against humanity”.
ATOM also stressed that Duterte is enjoying a due process in The Hague and he also has a respected foreign lawyer. According to the group, the legacy of Aquino is rooted on his commitment to democracy while Duterte’s term is allegedly known for its policies that raised concerns about human rights.
A staunch critic of former Pres. Rodrigo Roa Duterte who was detained for several years during his term, former Sen. Leila de Lima, also reacted to the Duterte-Ninoy comparison.