‘Historical denialism’ may affect Eleksyon 2025, Kontra Daya says

Election watchdog Kontra Daya said on Wednesday that "historical denialism" or refusal to acknowledge the country's past may have an impact on Eleksyon 2025.

For Kontra Daya, "historical denialism" is a form of misinformation which influences the public's decision on who to vote for in the upcoming polls.

“Right now historical denialism is not just confined to what happened during the time of dictatorship from 1972 to 1986 when the country was under Martial Law. Up to now, even the war on drugs under the Duterte administration is subjected to denialism," said Kontra Daya convenor Danilo Arao.

"Not just in the number of those killed but rather also the circumstances behind the war on drugs,” he added.

Arao made the statement during the launching of International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines’ of International Observer Mission for the May polls. There, he said that their group has documented various dimensions of defrauding the elections since 2007 and one of them is proliferation of disinformation.

“There are people who justify and gaslight their way into arguing those who were killed deserve to die because they were criminals, rapists, or they were drug addicts," Arao explained.

"Those kinds of denialism would tend to have some implications on the outcome of the elections because there are people who are led to believe with regard to such lies," added Arao.

"The perpetrators of fake news would tend to do anything and everything just so they can regain power.”

Government records showed that there are over 6,000 drug suspects killed in police operations. Human rights organizations, however, estimate the death toll may have reached 30,000 due to unreported incidents.

Former President Rodrigo Duterte was arrested in the Philippines by local authorities last March 11 based on a warrant of arrest issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged crimes against humanity in relation to his drug war.

Duterte is currently being held in The Hague, Netherlands. —VAL, GMA Integrated News

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