DAVAO CITY, Philippines – The roads were already packed with clogged with cars even before the protesters trooped into the gates of Eastern Mindanao Command in Panacan on Sunday, December 10.
Protesters were denouncing the government’s red tagging of progressive groups and the continued martial law in Mindanao.
The protest was participated by the tri-people of the different regions in Mindanao. Most were farmers, families and victims of extrajudicial and political killings and military encampment in Lumad schools and communities.
Also joining the protest were members of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, Karapatan, among others.
The protest was in commemoration of the 59th International Human Rights day. This, as they oppose the recent Supreme Court’s decision on Martial Law in Mindanao and President Rodrigo Duterte’s Proclamation 360.
Protesters laid cardboard coffins to symbolize the effects of the continued militarization in Lumad communities.
Karapatan has recorded a total of 57 political killings and 22 bombing incidents in communities under the current administration.
From Proclamation 360, which officially terminated the peace talks with the CPP-NDF, President Rodrigo Duterte extended his warning to progressive groups as “legal fronts” of the NPA, which he now labeled as “terrorists.”
With the escalated number of series of attacks on activists and even church leaders recently, progressive groups here condemned Duterte for his pronouncements that have risked the human rights of the Filipino people under the hands of the state security forces. (davaotoday.com)
