This FREE digital collection is my first of three projects as a 2024 International Fellow (for poetry) of the International Human Rights Art Movement (IHRAM): From my June 19, 2024 article on Medium: For this collection, “Datuterte: Imagined Confessions, 2024,” I assumed the (despotic, brutal, chauvinist, misogynist, condescending, foulmouthed, etc.) persona of the previous Philippine president, Rodrigo Roa Duterte, and via a series of portrait poetry and prose attempted a fictional autobiography which narrative arc begins and ends with his contemplation on his current situation: now that rumors are rife about the imminence of his arrest by the International Criminal Court over his alleged crimes against humanity, mainly the extrajudicial killings committed during his brutal “war on drugs” that claimed tens of thousands of lives. Imagined but based on the subject’s actual statements and reliable news reports, the persona narrates his childhood, young adulthood, and his political career that began with his appointment as OIC vice-mayor of Davao City and ended when he finished his six-year term as president of the Philippines. In his stories, he speaks of the multitude of fatal crimes under his separate administrations as mayor then president; including the ones he purportedly committed himself — straight from his own mouth as factual statements, or tough talk to pander to his fanatical supporters, or both. The fictional narration delves into the psychology and personal background of an autocrat, along with the social and political milieus within which each select slice of the storyteller’s life was lived, and the crimes he committed personally and/or under his leadership. Insights are also shared on how and why a significant number of a populace end up embracing fascistic propaganda and supporting tyrannical and (therefore) anti-human rights policies as possible solutions for social ills, preponderantly for the perceived or actual breakdown of law and order. At the very least, I hope that this small collection will serve as a quick reference for any student of contemporary Philippine history, specifically about the administration of the 16th president of the republic (2016 to 2022) that is now widely considered as the most murderous and with the highest number of human rights violations when it comes to state-sanctioned violence. #HumanRightsForAll #Duterte #Marcos #WritingCommunity #poetry

@SamuelLJackson @kendricklamar @sza Thanks, Samuel L. Jackson and Kendrick Lamar for just MAGA (Making America Game Again)! No hate - end racism!

@RommelFLopez Ang gusto ko kay Marcoleta ay yung paninindigan niya dahil tunay na wala siyang pinalalampas. Kita niyo? Pati patay iniinsulto. ✝️

Acceptance is unleashing the fire that consumes you for a reprieve while knowing that it will come back stronger to finish what you started all along. 🔥 #writing #poetry #poem #poetrycommunity #writerscommunity

Farewell, Uncle Rep. Edcel Lagman (my mother's eldest brother). And hello to your legacy of progressive laws, as a resolute and indefatigable defender of human rights. (And I fancy that the instrumental music of "Whiter Shade of Pale" by Procol Harum played on your funeral mass.)

The Dis-United States of America. Signed, President Elon Musk & VP Donald Trump (World's Biggest Idiots)

Dios mabalos, Ka Noel Cabangon, sa pagtanghal sa parangal ng Human Rights and Labor Advocates noong ika-6 ng Enero, 2025 para sa aking yumaong Uncle Rep. Edcel Lagman (May 1, 1942 - January 30, 2025; panganay na kapatid ng aking nanay): #tatsulok ✊

@elonmusk Fake news again from Donald Trump to fool his stupid fascist MAGA base! I guess USAID could've helped educate you in spelling: it's "stolen," not "stollen"! Your stupidity is even in all caps, you world's biggest idiot!

@CalltoActivism I'm a non-American living in my home country. And we in the rest of the world are deeply concerned: The world's biggest economy and most powerful militarily is governed (or ruled?!) by the world's biggest idiot!

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