Duterte: Umamin na totoong siya ang pinuno ng DDS hit squad na nasa likod ng mga kaso ng EJK?! (At may libreng libro dito!)

Ah okey. Eniwey, may sinulat din kasi akong koleksyon bago pa ng pag-amin ni Rodrigo Duterte sa Senado* nitong nakaraan lang. At ito ay binubuo ng kanyang mga "pag-amin" simula sa mga kaganapan noong kanyang kabataan hanggang sa pagbaba niya sa puwesto. Kathang isip lamang pero base sa mga balita't statements niya. Mga tula ito na base pa rin naman sa mga resibo, ika nga. (Parang talambuhay at psychological insight sa kanyang pagkatao.) Bale una ko na siyang "pinaamin" sa koleksyon na ito, haha! Sa wikang Ingles dahil isa ito sa mga proyekto ko bilang 2024 International Fellow ng International Human Rights Art Movement (IHRAM) na ang punong tanggapan ay sa New York, NY, USA. I-click dito para sa libreng digital copy ng medyo maiksing babasahin: Datuterte: Imagined Confessions 2024 (IHRAM 2024). Ito ang aking munting kontribusyon para sa karapatang pantao at demokrasya sa ating bansang Pilipinas. Dedicated sa mga biktima't naulila ng extrajudicial killings (EJK) noong panunungkulan ni Duterte. Sana'y makamit nila ang hustisya! 

(Cover art by Kaleb Sevilla)

Mga ilang positive reviews:

If there is anything you will read today, make it Karlo Silverio Lagman Sevilla III's free digital poetry collection, Datuterte. It's a unique, honest, and powerful collage of first-person poems spoken from Rodrigo Duterte's viewpoint, using real-life statements during his bloody six-year regime as Philippine president. It offers an encompassing grasp of his violent political term and is a product of Karlo's fellowship at International Human Rights Art Movement (IHRAM).

- Gretchen Filart, poet, Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net Nominee

. . . Karlo Sevilla, has a new book out and it pulls no punches. Assembled largely from public record, the poems reveal something tragic about their subject.

- Christian Smith, editor, The Isthmus 

More about the book from my previous post here.

At isa pang libreng libro, mahabang tula, base sa sigalot sa Palestina: The Boy On the Hill (IHRAM 2024).

*Binawi raw ni Duterte yung mga inamin niya, joke lang daw. Bale nagawa pang magbiro ng loko kahit under oath? Sabi naman ni Mon Tulfo, high daw kasi sa fentanyl. (Si Mon Tulfo nagsabi niyan, ha? Hindi ako.)

Maraming salamat! ✊

"Datuterte: Imagined Confessions, 2024" by Karlo Sevilla (WTF is this?!)

Trigger warning: various shocking contents. Read it here for FREE!

(Cover art by Kaleb Sevilla)

• Published June 10, 2024, this is the first of three individual poetry projects that I committed to complete as a 2024 International Human Rights Art Movement (IHRAM) International Fellow.
• What I wrote to IHRAM Executive Director Tom Block upon submission:

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 16^th 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.

• A positive review from Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net Nominee poet Gretchen Filart:

If there is anything you will read today, make it Karlo Silverio Lagman Sevilla III's free digital poetry collection, Datuterte. It's a unique, honest, and powerful collage of first-person poems spoken from Rodrigo Duterte's viewpoint, using real-life statements during his bloody six-year regime as Philippine president. It offers an encompassing grasp of his violent political term and is a product of Karlo's fellowship at International Human Rights Art Movement (IHRAM).

And, again, you can read "Datuterte: Imagined Confessions, 2024" by yours truly here for FREE.