13 hours Ago By Gelo Gonzales
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rapplerAds.displayAd( "mobile-middle-1" );MANILA, Philippines – Veronica “Kitty” Duterte’s Instagram account became one of the most prominent sources of updates during the arrest and detainment of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte at the Villamor Air Base, Tuesday, March 11, prior to his departure for The Hague, Netherlands, later that night.Kitty was among those with the former president at the base, along with Duterte’s partner Honeylet Avanceña (Kitty’s mother), a grandchild, and two aides, former executive secretary Salvador Medialdea, and former land transportation chair Martin Delgra.
Kitty had the chance to take videos and photos, and post updates via Instagram Stories. Kitty took videos of Duterte and Medialdea questioning the arrest, and several photos pertaining to a supposed health condition of the former president that would require him to be taken to a hospital, and not be put on a plane. She posted “Illegal detention.
No warrant of arrest.” In response, in a Facebook post that has now gone viral with more than 90,000 shares, Facebook user John Kashmir Tan pointed out: “..
.the poor Filipinos killed by your father’s regime HAD NO WARRANTS OF ARREST, EITHER. You had it coming, Duterte.
”Human rights and environmental lawyer Tony La Viña presented a visual showing victims of extrajudicial killings — all shot without a warrant. In the last frame, Duterte is pictured along with the words “May warrant” (with a warrant). The former president was arrested under a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) coursed through the Interpol.
A surviving family member of an extrajudicial killing (EJK) victim told ABS-CBN on Duterte’s arrest: “Buti pa siya inaresto siya, samantalang ‘yung asawa ko at iba pang biktima, binaril na lang, pinatay na lang nang ganon-ganon lang,” (He’s lucky he was arrested while my husband and other victims were just shot on the spot, killed just like that.)Later, Kitty posted, “They took my dad from us, put him on a plane and wouldn’t say where to. People, wake up.
” The irony wasn’t lost on people online, noting how Kitty’s words could’ve been the very same words that the family of a drug war victim could’ve said: father taken, disappeared, to who knows where.window.rapplerAds.
displayAd( "middle-2" );window.rapplerAds.displayAd( "mobile-middle-2" );Reactions by those in the anti-Duterte camp were equally critical towards Kitty’s other posts, considering them to be offensive in light of Duterte’s drug war.
Kitty said, “Filipinos, this is the plane they used to kidnap my dad. #neverforget” — a phrase that is most commonly associated with the movement to “never forget” the abuses by the administration of the first Marcos president. One online commenter responded: “Yes we #NeverForget the likes of Kian delos Santos,” referring to the 17-year-old boy killed by police, who begged for his life, asking them to stop, and telling them he has a school exam tomorrow — one of the most notorious incidents from the drug war.
Meme page SantaMarites made a post in response to Kitty’s posts as well, saying that what the Duterte patriarch is experiencing is but a minor inconvenience, showing a photo of Delos Santos’ school ID. “Dear Kitty Duterte. What your father is going through right now is a minor inconvenience,” the page said.
View this post on Instagram A post shared by SANTA MARITESTM (@santa__marites)A meme meanwhile by pop culture page FTTM poked fun at Kitty’s insistence of her father being kidnapped. View this post on Instagram A post shared by FTTM (@fttmph)In a photo showing a tear on the collar of her turtleneck shirt, Kitty said “this is the result of the harassment they did to my family and I today, done by the supposed ‘protectors’ of this country.” Illustrating the gap between the daughter’s complaints of harassment and what EJK victims went through, Getty Images photographer Ezra Acayan reshared a photo of one of the drug war victims, directly addressing the post to Duterte’s daughter.
“Hello, Kitty,” he said. window.rapplerAds.
displayAd( "middle-3" );window.rapplerAds.displayAd( "mobile-middle-3" );He captioned the photo: “Family and friends of sixteen year old Nercy Galicio, who was kidnapped, raped, and killed by unknown men after she was suspected to be a drug courier, take part in her funeral in Navotas, Philippines, April 30, 2017.
” In August 2017, Kitty also faced some backlash for a post showing her with Ariana Grande with the caption “I’m literally dying,” perceived by some to be offensive to those who had died during the drug war at that point. The backlash reflected some of the public’s growing anger at the time — but she was also just 13 years old then. Now, the 20-year-old Kitty, in her time providing updates during her father’s Philippine arrest, found herself on the Duterte frontline, once again facing backlash in relation to her father’s alleged crimes.
Yet, in this role, she has also seen her following on Instagram grow from 1.1 million on Tuesday to 1.7 million on Wednesday, March 12, potentially becoming another active voice in the narratives that will take hold as Duterte’s ICC case proceeds.
She also filed a petition before the Supreme Court (SC) Wednesday to seek the return of her father.Kitty’s posts, calling for support and sympathy, were also routinely picked up and reposted by major news outlets on social media, thus getting a wider reach. – Rappler.
com.
