During 37th EDSA commemoration rally, Cebuanos renew calls for justice for slain activists
CEBU, Philippines – Labor unions, human rights advocates, and lawyers gathered in downtown Cebu City on Friday, February 24, to renew calls for justice for slain activists during a rally commemorating the 37th anniversary of the EDSA People Power Revolution.
The protest began around 10 am at the Fuente Osmeña Circle where the groups marched all the way to Camp Sergio Osmeña, before heading to Colon Street to do a reenactment of the rallies done during the first People Power Revolution in Cebu.
Around 100 individuals, according to police, joined the rally from different walks of life to resurface the names of those that were tortured, killed, and abducted during the regime of the ousted dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos and until the present day.
“Dili nato kalimantan si Father Rudy Romano nga usa ka Redemptorist priest nga giabduct sa Tisa, Si Levi Ybanez, usa ka aktibistang batan-on nga gidakop sa Sanciangko, mga duol ra kaayo natong tanan,” Kabataan Cebu Chairperson Kyle Enero told reporters in an interview.
(We cannot forget Father Rudy Romano who was a Redemptorist priest who was abducted in Tisa. And Levi Ybanez, a young activist who was arrested in Sanciangko, this all happened so near to all of us.)
In the 1980s, Romano was an active member of the movements against the dictatorial regime. He was the lead convenor of the Coalition Against People’s Persecution (CAPP) and a head of the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) in Cebu.
On July 11, 1985, he was abducted — never to be found again.
Kabataan Partylist Cebu Chairperson Kyle Enero tells the people to never forget the victims of Martial Law and to continue the fight for justice. @rapplerdotcom pic.twitter.com/rfqH1WMtKE
— John Sitchon (@TheJohnSitchon) February 24, 2023
Romano would not be the last. On June 13, 2020, Elena Tijamo, a 58-year-old program coordinator at the Farmers Development Center (FARDEC) who helped provide legal aid and agriculture education to farmers, was also abducted from her home in Bantayan Island.
Unlike Romano, Tijamo’s body was found a year later after she was reported dead in a hospital in Mandaluyong City.
“Among panagtipon karon usa ka expression nga wala mi nadala sa kahadlok nga ganahan ipaambit sa estado mao na karon nagpadayon mi sa pagukab, pagorganisa, ug pagpalihok sa matag-sector nga buhion and diwa sa EDSA,” Enero said.
(Our gathering today is an expression that we wouldn’t allow ourselves to succumb to the fear that the state wants us to feel and that’s why we continue opening, organizing, and mobilizing each sector in reviving the spirit of EDSA.)
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Enero also said that the EDSA celebration was done on February 24 because it was also the death anniversary of Chad Booc.
Booc was a Lumad Bakwit school teacher and an environmental activist who was killed alongside community teacher Jurain Ngojo in an encounter with soldiers in Davao de Oro on February 24, 2022.
In a Facebook post, Save Our Schools Network (SOS) called it a “bloody massacre” of civilians.
Like father, like son
Jaime Paglinawan, the chairperson of BAYAN-Central Visayas, said during the rally that there was no difference between the administrations of Marcos, the father, and his son, current President Bongbong Marcos.
“Under the Marcos administration, neoliberal policies have worsened, such as importation instead of [support for] local production and privatization of public services and infrastructures. This [policy] is not so that the Filipino people will thrive but for the big businessmen and foreign companies to grow,” Paglinawan said in Cebuano.
Paglinawan took a jab at the administration’s plan to create a Maharlika Wealth Fund, which he described as a “source of corruption”.
“It is also a great embarrassment that Marcos Jr. himself is encouraging the people to pay their taxes when he and his family continue to not pay their debt to the Filipino people of P203 billion estate tax,” Paglinawan said.
According to the community leader, in the 8 months that the president has been in power, many of the people’s concerns regarding minimum wage, post-pandemic recovery, and the increasing prices of goods, and services still remain unresolved as the president favors international travel more than facing his people.
Despite this, for Paglinawan and other members of the multi-sectoral groups, the fight for a better Philippines still continues.
“Karon anibersaryo sa People Power, atong hinumdumon ang diwa sa mga nakigbisog kaniadto sa atong pakigbisog alang sa disente nga kinabuhi, tinuod nga kagawasan, ug kalinaw nga nakabase sa hustisya,” Paglinawan said.
(On the anniversary of the People Power, we must remember the people’s fighting spirit back then in our struggle today for decent living, genuine freedom, and peace based on justice.) – Rappler.com