Slain urban poor leader, a servant of the poor, loving husband and grandpa

Servant of the people

After several decades of being married, there were times when Divina would tell her husband Gulfo to lessen his involvement in progressive groups. “Being a militant runs in his blood. No matter what I say, he was very much committed to his service to the people. No one could bend his principles. He helped so many people,” Divina said.

Gulfo served as organizer for several progressive organizations such as Kadamay, Piston, Courage and now Anakbayan, since he was working with them against the threat of demolition in their community.

“His commitment never wavered,” Divina said, “He continued to struggle against the demolition even if he was tired. Sometimes his legs would hurt because they had meetings from one place to another.”

In the last couple of years, Gulfo was at the forefront of their community’s struggle against the impending demolition. He was recently the lead convener and eventually voted as chairperson of Alyansa Kontra Demolisyon in Malabon. Last May 21, 2012, he led residents of Sitio 6 in Catmon in barricading their community after they received a notice of demolition. “We were having meetings the day before he was gunned down,” Carlito Badion, Kadamay vice chair and lead convenor of Alyansa Kontra Demolisyon, said.

Gulfo also welcomed Filipinos from the United States into their homes whenever there were exposure trips in the country. In a statement, the League of Filipino Students at San Francisco State University, said that a number of their comrades in the U.S. had an opportunity to meet and spend time with him during their exposure trips to the Philippines. They lauded Gulfo for being a “fervent and tireless organizer” and for choosing “to live and die in service of the people.”

“Thank you for opening your home to us. Thank you for laughing with us. Thank you for sharing your stories. Thank you for showing us what it means when we say that a ‘true revolutionary is guided by feelings of love,’” the LFS – San Francisco State University said in its statement.

Members of Anakbayan-USA also had an opportunity to meet Gulfo through their exposure trips in the Philippines. They described him as a “humble and warm-hearted comrade, father, grandfather and laborer.”

“He was a wise teacher to a generation of Filipino youth and student activists here in the U.S. He generously shared his years of experience and insightful lessons as an organizer and activist. He emphasized that in order to effectively organize, we should not only hold meetings, but be on the ground in the community and immerse ourselves in the lives of the masses,” Anakbayan-USA said in a statement.

Killed because of struggle for land?

3-year-old AJ points to a dent in the wood, hit by one of the bullets that claimed his grandpa’s life. (Photo by Janess Ann J. Ellao / bulatlat.com)

Divina said no other person would have the motive to have her husband Gulfo killed except those who are claiming the land where their houses sit. “He had no enemies here. We have been living here for 30 years now,” she said.

Even Kadamay’s Badion said the murder of Gulfo was part of the effort to “nip the anti-demolition local campaign in the bud.” He added that slain urban poor leader has also recently gathered 19 local organizations for the campaign against the eviction of residents from their respective communities in Malabon.

The community, which according to youth group Anakbayan, is built on a dump site, has been scheduled for demolition since 2001. There have been several attempts to demolish their homes such as in 2005, when, Divina said, police arrived to facilitate the demolition. “But it did not push through.”

Last March 6, a fire blazed their community in Sitio 6 that left 40 families homeless and a three-year-old girl killed.

Anakbayan-USA said Gulfo had a “deep grasp of the community’s problems and the Philippine government’s devious schemes to displace urban poor communities in the name of ‘development.’” They said Gulfo’s active participation in standing up, defending the residents’ basic rights and showing the way to change their conditions through collective action and struggle for national democracy made him a “prime target of state-sponsored terrorism.”

“Ka Erning’s murder adds to (President Benigno “Noynoy” C.) Aquino (III)’s growing record of political killings. This clearly shows that Aquino is perpetuating the legacy of the previous President Arroyo through his utter disregard for human rights,” Anakbayan-USA said.

“The urban poor are enraged over the violence being inflicted upon us just because we are asserting our basic right to live. What is more enraging is the fact these acts of violence are mostly government-sponsored,” Badion said, adding that such situation have pushed them continue fighting.

Aside from Gulfo, there are several other community leaders and residents of urban poor communities who are victims of extrajudicial killings and deaths brought about by demolitions. Anakbayan, a progressive youth organization, cited in its statement the names of some of the urban poor leaders killed: Antonio Homo of Kadiwa, Navotas, Rommel Fortades and Soliman Gomez of Pangarap Village and 19-year-old Arnel Leonor of Silverio Compound.

Call for justice

On June 10, 2012, hundreds joined the Gulfo family as they laid the urban poor leader to rest. Members of Anakbayan, other youth groups, transport groups, government employees and the workers sector joined the funeral march.

“Those who were brave enough to actively fight and oppose these demolitions become targets of harassments and, worst, killed”, Charisse Bañez, national secretary-general of Anakbayan, said. Instead of addressing the problems in the country, Bañez added, the Aquino administration is “hell-bent on implementing public-private partnerships and other government projects, touted as ‘urban development plans’ that will only benefit foreign and big businesses while millions of poor Filipinos live in grinding and abject poverty and conditions unworthy of human dignity.”

Badion, for his part, challenged Aquino to “discard its pro-capitalist and anti-poor policies affecting informal settlers.”

Divina said she is not yet sure if she would file charges against the perpetrators of the crime. “We do not have money to pursue a case. And if we do, who are we going to hold accountable for my husband’s murder?”

She added that she is not even sure if she would still like to call on President Aquino to give her husband justice. “It seems that he wants to remove all urban poor communities. Also, how can he act against his own cousin?” referring to Malabon Mayor Lenlen Oreta, daughter of former senator Tessie Aquino-Oreta.

For now, Divina is leaving what happened to her husband to God. But the struggle for land will continue. “We will fight for whatever my husband has started,” she said, “The Lord never sleeps. There is nothing impossible with Him.”