Cordillera People’s Alliance and Bolinget’s family fear for his safety, noting that he can be subjected to a “tokhang-style execution” if he gets arrested and transported to Davao Del Norte for his case.
Progressives said that the recent moves to amend the Philippine Constitution are “but a desperate attempt of President Rodrigo Duterte to hold on to power and silence critics.”
“The government should act immediately as the health of Echanis and her baby is at high risk, especially in overly congested, poorly equipped prison conditions where social distancing is impossible and mass testing for COVID-19 is ignored.”
Farmers in Buntog have been struggling for decades to assert their rights to the land, which they and their ancestors have lived in since 1911.
The 16 Tumandok leaders arrested were staunch defenders of their ancestral domain.
“I asked why they killed him, and they denied it. But I saw it with my own two eyes, they shot my husband.”
“It is important that peace talks continue as this is one of the avenues to resolve the roots of armed conflict.”
Health advocate and community doctor Josh San Pedro said that mass testing remains important amid the increasing number of cases, and the new coronavirus variant, which is proving to be more transmissible. After all, vaccines have no 100 efficacy rate and that chances of getting infected remain.
12th Infantry Battalion-Philippine Army (12IBPA) troopers and the Philippine National Police in Western Visayas swooped down on Tumandok communities in Calinog in Iloilo and Tapaz in Capiz and killed nine civilians in a Synchronized Enhanced Management of Police Operation (SEMPO).
“The sea is getting smaller for us,” Bohol said. “We are being demolished, our homes set on fire. I wish my child would be able to find another means of living [when he grows up].” – Gilbert Bohol
The CPP reported that the steady expansion of the areas of operation of the NPA renders large-scale AFP operations ineffective as the government troops fail to encircle and overpower the smaller NPA units.