MANILA, Philippines — The husband of slain human rights worker Eden Marcellana almost found himself in the same situation as his wife when bonnet clad men armed with rifles attempted to kill him in Cabuyao, Laguna.
Marcellana is the 8th nominee of partylist group Anakpawis and is also the concurrent secretary general of KASAMA-TK, a militant farmers organization.
The reports received by the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan states that the incident happened at 3:00 pm in Cabuyao, Laguna when Marcellana was traveling on a jeep going to Los Baos, Laguna. He noticed that the jeep was being tailed by a motorcycle. Upon reaching the rotunda of Bgy. Sala, Cabuyao, the jeep stopped and Marcellana spotted bonnet clad men carrying Armalite rifles.
Marcellana reportedly ran to a nearby house and shouted that he was a member of the partylist group Anakpawis. It was then that a barangay tanod assisted him.
In 2003, Marcellanas wife Eden, a human rights worker and secretary general of Karapatan Southern Tagalog, was murdered while on a fact finding mission in Mindoro together with Eddie Gumanoy, a regional farmer leader. The murder happened during the so-called reign of terror of Gen. Jovito Palparan who was stationed in Mindoro.
It is good that Ka Orly was able to elude his would-be assailants. It is condemnable that these attempts on activists continue because the Arroyo regime is not doing enough to stop the killings. This regime is liable for every activist killed because the government has not done anything significant to stop the murders, said Bayan secretary general Renato M. Reyes, Jr.
First it was his wife, now they want Ka Orly to suffer the same fate, Reyes added.
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Extrajudicial Killings
