Victims of human rights abuses in Southern Tagalog vow to ‘fight back’

SAN PABLO CITY – Human rights defenders, activists, and families of victims of human rights abuses all over the Southern Tagalog region have come out to declare their intention to “fight back”, July 1.

In a media forum hosted by Bagong Alyansang Makabayan Timog Katagalugan, victims of human rights violations under both the Rodrigo Duterte and the current Ferdinand Marcos Jr. administrations spoke out at length about the human rights situation in the Southern Tagalog region.

“It’s clear that the government’s response to the Southern Tagalog region’s demands is fascism and attacks,” said Bayan TK spokesperson Lucky Oraller. According to him, both administrations of Ferdinand Marcos Jr and his predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte prioritized “imperialist policies that serve foreign interests while neglecting the basic needs of the Filipino people.”

“We shouldn’t choose to side between competing evil and darkness,” Oraller added. He pointed out that human rights abuses have continued from Duterte to Marcos. “From the Bloody Sunday massacre – of which organizers from basic sectors were the primary victims – up to today, state fascism continues.”

Still no justice for Bloody Sunday

Justice has remained elusive for the families left in the wake of the Bloody Sunday killings of March 7, 2021. For Liezel Asuncion, widow to Emmanuel Asuncion, and Rosenda Lemita, mother of Ana Mariz Lemita-Evangelista, the Marcos Jr. administration has dashed any hope of holding those who killed their loved ones accountable. 

Last November 2024, they filed cases with the United Nations Human Rights Committee in hopes of seeking justice internationally. They also testified during the House Quad Committee hearings meant to investigate the Duterte administration’s war on drugs, with the intent of proving that Duterte’s “tokhang” tactics served as the blueprint for political killings under his administration.

Likewise, Rose Salundaga also expressed hope that justice might come from the international courts, if it cannot be achieved domestically. Salundaga is the widow of Greg Dasigao, an urban poor rights activist killed in Rodriguez, Rizal province during Bloody Sunday.

For her, Duterte should  “be held accountable and convicted” by the International Criminal Court. “It would be better if there was a trial in the ICC so that my husband can receive justice,” she said. “We are calling on human rights [defenders] and the lawyers here to help achieve justice for those helplessly killed, like my husband.”

In worst cases, families continue to be harassed and intimidated. Narcisa Dela Cruz is the mother of slain Dumagat activist Randy Dela Cruz. Randy and his cousin Puroy were brutalized and killed by state forces in Barangay Santa Ines, Tanay, Rizal.

In two recent incidents, June 16 and June 23, Dela Cruz’ husband and in-laws were summoned to the Sta. Ines barangay hall and confronted by individuals who identified themselves as members of the National Bureau of Investigation, Philippine National Police, and the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict.

Dela Cruz relays that the state agents offered her canned goods and rice – in exchange for not filing complaints against those who killed her son. “I’m afraid when soldiers come to our area,” she says. “All of them have guns. [I’m afraid that] what happened to Randy and Puroy might happen again.”

Reign of terror across the region

The slow pace of justice for the victims of Bloody Sunday mirrors the ongoing state of human rights in provinces across the region.

In Mindoro, communities continue to be militarized and attacked in the name of counterinsurgency. According to human rights group Defend Mindoro, conditions in the island have deteriorated since the administration of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s implementation of Oplan Habol Tamaraw, and have “worsened further under the Marcos Jr. administration.” Rights groups have constantly raised the alarm of bombings, arrests, and extra-judicial killings in the island for years.

For Defend Mindoro, the most recent egregious case is the killing of Jay-El Maligday, a Mangyan-Hanunuo student killed by the military after he was branded as a member of the New People’s Army.

According to Defend Mindoro spokesperson Erbel Miranda, the Maligday family filed a complaint against the military, which netted them “continued threats not to file a case, surveillance, and harassment.”

Miranda emphasized that the militarization of Mindoro is linked to the various mining and dredging projects in the island. There are currently no less than 10 combat battalions in Mindoro.

A similar situation persists in Batangas province, where the 59th Infantry Battalion continues to entrench itself in communities around the province. Tanggol Batangan spokesperson Hailey Pecayo noted that the 59th Infantry Battalion is involved in at least two cases: the killing of nine-year old Kyllene Casao and the enforced disappearance of fisherfolk organizer Mariano Jolongbayan.

Pecayo herself is a victim of state persecution. In 2022, Pecayo and two others were charged with violating the Anti-Terrorism Act while conducting a fact-finding mission to investigate Casao’s death. The charges against her were eventually dropped by a Santa Rosa, Laguna court for lack of sufficient evidence.

Fighting back

Bayan TK called for a “series of protest activities” coming into the Marcos Jr. administration’s upcoming State of the Nation Address. “The people will mobilize to hold Marcos Jr. and Sara Duterte accountable, and to exact justice for the victims of Bloody Sunday, for all political detainees, for all victims of the drug war,” Oraller said. “The Southern Tagalog region will rise in the upcoming SONA to demand our rights and raise our calls.”

Oraller emphasized that the Southern Tagalog region’s calls for accountability and justice are intrinsically linked with calls for socio-economic and other rights. He noted that apart from accountability, the Southern Tagalog region is also fighting for “increased wages for workers, an end to land-use conversion, and an end to demolitions in the region.”

He also emphasized the need for social services. “The confidential funds stolen by Sara [Duterte], that should’ve instead gone towards compensation for farmers in Batangas,” he said. “That should have gone towards social services for people embattled by the rising cost of goods.”

The group announced that protest activities in the region will culminate in a six-day protest caravan from July 23 to 28 leading up to a State of the Region Address to be held the same day of Marcos Jr’s third SONA. (AMU, RVO)

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