There's now an AI Overview entry on my published political poetry collection, "Datuterte: Imagined Confessions, 2025!" So I guess it's gaining some traction online ... Here's the link to the FREE online collection, published by the International Human Rights Art Movement (IHRAM).
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! ✊
Trigger warning: various shocking contents. Read it here for FREE!
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 histor
y, 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.
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.
Kaya maaari namang mapawalang-sala ang mga nililitis ng ICC, at pwede namang huwag silang masyadong maihi sa kanilang mga salwal.
Si Laurent Gbagbo ang pinakaunang dating head of state na nilitis ng ICC.Mula sa description box ng video:
1. Ayon sa Article 127(2) ng Rome Statute ng International Criminal Court (https://www.icc-cpi.int/sites/default...
Its withdrawal shall not affect any cooperation with the Court in connection with criminal investigations and proceedings in relation to which the withdrawing State had a duty to cooperate and which were commenced prior to the date on which the withdrawal became effective. Pagsalin sa Filipino: “Ang pag-atras ay di makakaapekto sa pakikipag-kooperasyon sa Korte kaugnay ng mga imbestigasyon sa krimen at mga paglilitis ukol sa kung saan ang umaatras na Estado ay may tungkulin nang makipag-kooperasyon at ang mga ito ay nagsimula bago pa man ang petsa noong naging epektibo na ang pag-atras.” (Welcome po ang sinumang makakapagbigay ng mas angkop na pagsalin. Paki-komento na lang po sa baba at bibigyan ko kayo ng acknowledgement sakaling i-edit ko ito nang ayon sa kontribusyon ninyo. Salamat.) 2. Mula sa page 87 ng Supreme Court Decision G.R. Nos. 238875, 239483, and 240954, July 2021 (https://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/20238/): Withdrawing from the Rome Statute does not discharge a state party from the obligations it has incurred as a member, Article 127(2) provides: “A State shall not be discharged, by reason of its withdrawal, from the obligations arising from this Statute while it was a Party to the Statute, including any financial obligations which may have accrued. Its withdrawal shall not affect any cooperation with the Court in connection with criminal investigations and proceedings in relation to which the withdrawing State had a duty to cooperate and which were commenced prior to the date on which the withdrawal became effective, nor shall it prejudice in any way the continued consideration of any matter which was already under consideration by the Court prior to the date on which the withdrawal became effective. A state party withdrawing from the Rome Statute must still comply with this provision. Even if it has deposited the instrument of withdrawal, it shall not be discharged from any criminal proceedings. Whatever process was already initiated before the International Criminal Court• obliges the state party to cooperate.