Propagandista ni Hitler

GINAMIT ni Adolf Hitler, diktador ng Nazi Germany, si Leni Riefenstahl sa paggawa ng mga pelikula na nagsilbing propaganda upang pabanguhin ang kanyang mapaniil na gobyerno sa pakikidigma sa halos kabuuan ng Europa. Isang sikat na film director, aktres, at photographer si Reifenstahl nang inatasan niya ni Hitler na gumawa ng mga pelikula tungkol sa pag-angat ng Nazi Party sa pag-agaw ng poder sa Alemanya.

Si Leni Riefenstahl ang direktor ng tatlong pelikula na nagpapakita ng pag-usbong ng Nazi Party bilang isang malaking kilusan sa pamumuno ni Hitler. Ipinakita ng “Triumph of Will,” “Victory of the Faith,” at “Olympia” ang malalaking rally ng Nazi Party sa Nuremberg kung saan mahigit isang milyon Aleman ang dumalo sa pagpapakita ng lakas ng mga Nazi. Kinilala ang tatlong pelikul sa buong mundo bilang huwaran ng paggawa ng propaganda sa pelikula.

Nang sumiklab ang World War II, pumunta si Riefenstahl sa mismong digmaan upang kumuha ng pelikula na nagsilbing dokumentasyon. Kinilala ng mundo ang mga pelikula ni Riefenstahl bilang patoo sa tapang at tatag ng mga sundalong Aleman at lakas ng pwersang Aleman sa digmaan. Kinilala si Riefenstahl bilang simbolo ng rehimeng Nazi.

Nag-umpisa ang kalbaryo nig Riefenstahl ng natalo ang Nazi Germany sa digmaan at nawala si Hitler. Hinuli siya at ikinulong pansamantala ngunit hindi kinasuhan at pinalaya. Hindi naging kasapi si Riefenstahl ng Nazi Party. Iginiit niya na propesyunal ang relasyon niya kay Hitler at Nazi Party. Sinubukan niyang buhayin ang kanyang career bilang movie director, ngunit hindi siya nag-klik.Walang mangahas pondohan ang career ni Riefenstahl.

Namuhay siyang tahimik at namatay siya noong 2003, edad 101 anyos. Dahil sa kanyang asosasyon kay Hitler, hindi kinakitaan ng anumang sigla si Leni Riefenstahl sa pagbabalik s paggawa ng pelikula. Aral ang kanyang buhay sa mga alagad ng sining na kumakampi sa sinumang hindi pinapaboran ng kasaysayan. Sana alam ito ni Darryl Yap, Alex Gonzaga, at Brillante Mendoza na isinusuka sa kanilang pagkampi kay Rodrigo Duterte at BBM

***

HALAW ang mga sumusunod sa aming aklat “KILL KILL KILL: EJKs in the Philippines; Crimes Against Humanity vs. Duterte Et. Al. at the ICC.” Nasa huling yugto na ako na pagsusulat.

The information justified the charges against humanity charges against Duterte and his ilk, saying the state agencies would not do anything to incriminate themselves. It said:

“The hard political reality in the Philippines is that President Duterte will never open, much less pursue, an investigation in his executive department into his very own criminal liability as a death squad Mayor and President as well as that of his senior officials in his government, specifically in relation to crimes against humanity in the actual historical context of his Davao Death Squad in Davao City when he was still the Mayor. Just like what happened in Davao City when he was the Mayor, he will never order the investigative agencies under him like the Department of Justice, the National Bureau of Investigation and the Philippine National Police to conduct such kind of investigation. Based on his repeated public pronouncements, President Duterte has even incited, promoted and encouraged policemen to kill drug personalities and assured them of protection if brought to prosecution or of pardon and reinstatement to the police service, with rank promotion, if convicted. Despite strong criticisms from the international community, from the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, heads of States, the United Nations personnel, the reports of the Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, still President Duterte has not bothered at all to conduct or to order the conduct of an investigation, specifically in the context of his Davao Death Squad relating to his specific criminal liability and responsibility over the continuing commission of extra-judicial executions in his war on drugs at the national level.“

It continued with the lengthy potshot:

“Even if there were investigations into the extrajudicial executions in the war on drugs, such investigations would be futile, because President Duterte has promised to support any policeman charged in court for following presidential orders to carry out the war on drugs. A case in point is that of PNP Supt. Marvin Marcos, and his men, who have been found guilty by both the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights. Against the Rules of Court, police procedures and even logic, Marcos served a warrant of arrest to Albuera Mayor Espinosa, before dawn, and inside the jail cell where Espinosa was being detained after surrendering to the police. Espinosa was shot dead in what Marcos claimed was a firefight, but what investigators said was cold-blooded murder. When asked to comment about the Senate findings that Marcos was guilty of murder, President Duterte promised to support Marcos because, he said, the police were his men and so he had to support them. In later speeches, President Duterte also promised to pardon them, should they be convicted in a local court, and to promote them after. In this situation, how can the Executive branch of the Duterte government, which is tasked with both the investigation and the prosecution of the killings, investigate itself? How can the executive branch carry out a genuine investigation when President Duterte himself continues to publicly support the police version, in the face of contrary evidence and findings?”

It added:

“In the Rome Statute, one of the conditions used to determine inability to investigate a particular case is the total or substantial collapse or unavailability of a country’s national judicial system. The Philippine judicial system, which is independent from the executive, is functioning. But the judgment of its courts is dependent on the investigations carried out by the Executive, and its courts cannot conduct a genuine trial without an impartial investigation by the police. Further, the decisions of the courts are subject to presidential pardon: the courts may convict but the president may pardon, as President Duterte has promised, again and again, to those who carry out his orders to kill. Justice will still not be served, if the President will pardon those whom the courts convict of these crimes. Any investigation and trial, therefore, must involve President Duterte and his criminal liability and responsibility as the mastermind and leader of the Davao Death Squad in Davao City and in the continuing mass murder in the war on drugs at the national level.”

The information did not fail to mention the web of friendship and interrelationships among the current people in the Duterte government, saying these personal relationships could spell disaster to any future investigations. The Filipino culture, where personal relationship is given emphasis, has always been the weakness that could lead to any objective, impartial, and independent probe of any given issue. It said:

“The composition of the current Duterte administration makes it doubly impossible for an investigation by the Duterte government into the criminal liability of President Duterte as a President over the continuing extrajudicial executions in the war on drugs in the factual context of the Davao Death Squad when he was still the Mayor of Davao City. Atty. Vitaliano Aguirre, who is the Secretary of Justice is a law school classmate and fraternity brother of President Duterte. He also served at one time as the lawyer for Senior Police Officer 4 Bienvenido Laud in the Avasola case. Atty. Salvador Medialdea, who is Executive Secretary or the so-called “Little President,” is close to the President, due to their long-standing friendship dating back to their fathers and served also as counsel in the Avasola case for PSO4 Bienvenido Laud, a known leading member of the Davao Death Squad. Atty. Dante Gierran, who is the Director of the National Bureau of Investigation, was part of the group that fed a live individual tagged as a kidnapper to a crocodile in Digos City, a city in southern Mindanao. Atty. Salvador Panelo, the Presidential Legal Counsel, had also served as lawyer for President Duterte and was counsel for the Ampatuans in the so-called Maguindanao Massacre. Atty. Jose Calilda, who is Solicitor General, also served as a chief assistant in Davao City when Duterte was still Mayor. Last but not the least is Philippine National Police Chief Ronaldo de la Rosa who heads the Philippine National Police and was once the Chief of the City Police of Davao City when Duterte was still Mayor. He was one of those tagged by Edgar Matobato and Arthur Lascañas in certain criminal incidents involving the Davao Death Squad.