Statement of ATOM on Comparison between Former Pres. Duterte & Late Former Sen. Ninoy Aquino Jr.

ATOM – August Twenty-One Movement believes that the Duterte-Ninoy comparison can allegedly be a political strategy of the Dutertes ahead of the May 2025 Elections.

Former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte is detained in the detention facility of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands for over a week now. He was arrested in Manila last March 11. On the same day, he was flown to The Hague via Dubai.

The arrest of former Pres. Duterte is controversial in the Philippines. There are questions on whether or not due process was existing. Amid the questions over the validity of the warrant, Senator Bato dela Rosa conceded that Duterte’s warrant of arrest is valid.

Former Pres. Duterte’s confirmation of charges is set on September 23. According to Vice Pres. Sara Duterte, the former Chief Executive wants to go home to the Philippines.

Vice Pres. Sara Duterte revealed she told former Pres. Rodrigo Duterte that he will be like the late former Senator Ninoy Aquino Jr. if he will insist to go home to the Philippines. According to the Vice President, her father expressed an acceptance of a similar fate with Aquino Jr. as long as he can go home to the country.

The statement of Vice Pres. Sara Duterte comparing the fates of former Pres. Rodrigo Roa Duterte and the late former Sen. Ninoy Aquino Jr. hooked the attention of many people and groups. The August Twenty-One Movement, more popularly called ATOM, is one of those that issued a statement regarding the Duterte-Ninoy comparison.

Based on a report on GMA News, the August Twenty-One Movement stressed the alleged difference between the pursuit of Aquino and Duterte to go home to the Philippines. According to ATOM, the late former Senator came home on August 21, 1983 hoping to talk to the then-dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr. for free elections to bring back democracy in the country.

“While President Duterte is hoping to come home and escape accountability to the charge of crimes against humanity,” the group stated.

ATOM also expressed their belief that the recent image of the Duterte family can be part of their political strategies ahead of the May 2025 Elections. The Dutertes allegedly “paint themselves as underdogs”.

”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, ATOM further stressed that Duterte is enjoying due process in The Hague and even employed a respected foreign lawyer. The group stated that Ninoy went home despite a new life in the United States and the threats in returning to the country for the sake of democracy. They added that the former Pres. Duterte did not sacrifice for democracy.