These are courageous Filipinos whom the nation should be proud of, and we must take a stand to defend them.
Jesus challenged the political leaders of his day when he cleansed the Temple of corrupt traders whom the authorities had allowed to desecrate. From that day, he was a target for assassination.
Today, his followers who do the same are also branded as enemies of the state and “red-tagged” as communist insurgents. In fact, the majority of them are humanitarian workers and human rights advocates. Like Jesus himself, they are falsely branded as subversives and targeted for execution.
One of these advocates is Cirila Estrada, who has dedicated her life to campaigning for the rights of exploited Filipino farmers. She and fellow human rights activist Victor Pelayo were red-tagged, thus considered a threat to the Philippine government.
Cirila was charged with possessing firearms and explosives. But the judge dismissed the charges, and she was declared innocent. This seemed to have infuriated the military commanders, and retaliation was swift. Cirila and Victor went missing in Capiz on August 29. They were allegedly arrested by military personnel and hidden away or executed. These are the latest in a long line of arbitrary arrests and enforced or involuntary disappearances.
The murder of radio journalist Percival Mabasa, better known as Percy Lapid, in October 2022 apparently followed his on-air criticism of high government personalities. His confessed assassin has been sentenced to 16 years in prison, along with four others, but the mastermind has not been identified and charged. Longtime activists James Jazmines and Felix Salaveria Jr. are believed to have been abducted by state forces last August.
Human rights group Karapatan has also reported on the disappearance of environmentalist Rowena Dasig, who was released from police detention on August 22 after she was acquitted of illegal possession of firearms. In August 2023, teenagers John Francis Ompad and Jemboy Baltazar were shot dead by police in Rizal province and Navotas, respectively. The following month, human rights lawyer Maria Saniata Liwliwa Gonzales Alzate was shot dead by a death squad in Bangued, Abra province.
All these met their deaths, speaking and working for justice. It seems evil forces wish to eliminate them and silence those who work for the greater good. We need faith that will move mountains of evil and replace them with goodness and convince people that the power of good will win.
