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Duterte's Nanay Soling hailed for role in Davao's anti-Martial Law movement


Konsensya Dabaw on Thursday honored Davao's contributions to the protection of the Filipino's rights and freedom in line with the upcoming commemoration of the 32nd anniversary of the historic EDSA People Power Revolution.

One of the key players was Soledad "Nanay Soling" Duterte, the mother of President Rodrigo Duterte.

"President Rodrigo Duterte himself acknowledged that his mother, Nanay Soling Duterte, was among the leaders of the 'Yellow Friday Movement' in the city," Konsensya Dabaw said in a statement.

Soledad Duterte was one of the leaders of the Yellow Friday Movement, which supported the candidacy of the late President Corazon Aquino.

The movement was formed following the assassination of Aquino's husband, then opposition Senator Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr., in 1983.

The dictator Ferdinand Marcos was ousted through a peaceful people power revolution in February 1986.

The group said Davaoeños had also experienced illegal arrests and detentions, torture, and killings despite the city being under the control of local officials who were known as long-time allies of the late President Ferdinand Marcos.

"All these affirmed Davao’s connectedness to—rather than superiority over—the rest of the peoples and communities of Mindanao laboring for societal transformation," Konsensya Dabaw said.

"Thus, Davao and its people have long-standing traditions of asserting rights and freedoms, as well as creating and holding multiple spaces where these can be expressed and claimed by different groups," it added.

Unfinished business

The group pointed out that the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution, which toppled the Marcos dictatorship, is still "unfinished" as the administration that came after it "did not address fundamental problems" as well as ease the public's dismay over economic and political elites.

"New challenges confront Davaoeños today and they are not simply about terrorism as we are being conditioned to think. The challenges are to our appreciation and assertion of our rights and freedoms and our relationships to government and fellow citizens," Konsensya Dabaw said.

The group would continue to invoke Davao's tradition of making spaces for "democratic critique and contestation" in order to overcome the challenges.

"We trust that Davaoeños would hold fast to the active exercise of engaged and critical citizenship. These would propel us forward towards our next collective milestones for justice, equality, and democracy," the group said. — BAP/NB, GMA News

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