An All Souls’ Day Tribute to Martyrs

In their tribute to the “martyrs of the politics of change,” Bayan Muna members placed on a symbolic grave the names and pictures of 27 of their colleagues who died a violent death under the hands of suspected military, paramilitary and police authorities. Fellow activists offered candles and flowers in their honor.

BY BULATLAT.COM

As the whole Christendom began trooping to the cemeteries to pay respects to their loved ones on All Souls’ Day, activists and advocates of “politics of change” held a not so different commemoration. On Oct. 31, they paid tribute to colleagues who died in pursuit of genuine social change and lasting peace.

In their tribute to the “martyrs of the politics of change,” Bayan Muna members placed on a symbolic grave the names and pictures of 27 of their colleagues who died a violent death under the hands of suspected military, paramilitary and police authorities. Fellow activists offered candles and flowers in their honor.

Nathanael Santiago, Bayan Muna secretary-general, said the tribute, held at the party-list group’s headquarters in Quezon City was also in condemnation of the “death of democracy and the looming specter of state militarism.”

"Bayan Muna sought to provide a voice for the poor sectors and advance an 'alternative politics' based on principles, issues, service and true people empowerment through grassroots organizing," Santiago said. “However, our participation in mainstream politics has been met with systematic political repression, the brutal result of which has been the murder of 27 of our community leaders and members nationwide since April last year."

Wilfredo Mananghaya, a well-known leader loved by various people's organizations in San Miguel, Bulacan, was killed on Sept. 20, 2001. He had led the people of San Miguel in opposing the marble quarrying of the Biak-na-Bato National Park and the anti-peasant policies of the Municipal Agrarian Reform Office. He was a Bayan Muna district coordinator.

Nicanor delos Santos, also a Bayan Muna coordinator in Tanay, Rizal, was killed by soldiers on Dec. 8, 2001. A leader of the indigenous peoples' organization of Dumagats in Tanay, Delos Santos was at the forefront in opposing the construction of the Laiban Dam, which threatens to submerge seven barangays mostly inhabited by the Dumagats.

Early morning killing

On the early morning of April 8 this year, some 10 heavily-armed soldiers surrounded the house of Expedito and Manuela Albarillo in Sitio Ibuyi, Bgy. Calsapa, San Teodoro, Mindoro Oriental. Neighbors and relatives then saw the armed men dragging Expedito outside with his hands tied on his back, followed by his wife who was clinging to her husband and pleading to the armed men. The couple was then brought to the backyard some 200 meters away where they were killed.

Relatives who rushed to the scene saw Esped and Manuela lying on their faces, bathed in their own blood. Esped's left eye was drooping from its socket, as if gouged out by a knife. Esped was a Bayan Muna coordinator in Barangay Calsapa while Manuela was a Bayan Muna member in the community.

Last May 20, Ruben Apolinar and his wife Rodriga, both Bayan Muna leaders of San Teodoro, Oriental Mindoro, were killed along with their 8-year old adopted child, Nina Angela.

Eight days after the massacre of the Apolinar family, military agents gunned down Edilberto Napoles, Jr. some distance away from the Bayan Muna office in Calapan City, Mindoro Oriental. Napoles had strongly condemned the alarming number of killings in this province perpetrated by the military's 204th Brigade under Col. Jovito Palparan. Of the 27 Bayan Muna deaths, 15 have occurred in Mindoro Oriental.

Other martyrs honored were: Ramon Ternida, Isidro Manlangit, Peter Dangiwan, Juanito Mesias, Jr., Ricardo Romero, Camenia Abatan, Constancio Gadon, Roberto Nepa, Milagros Belga, Erwin Bacarra, Lando Cabagay, Roger Fernando, Felipe Lapa, Emilio Santillan, Ildefonso Brocal, Warlito Nagasao, Osias Maganon,, Eduardo Mordido, and Rizza Concha.

"These martyrs dreamed and struggled for a society where true freedom, democracy and justice prevail, and for their militant advocacy, they were killed,” Santiago said. “State militarism has taken such scale it has targeted innocent civilians armed with nothing but a valid yearning for a more just and equitable society. Today we commit to memory the past deeds and contributions our comrades have made and pick up the struggles they have left unfinished." Bulatlat.com

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