Sunday, March 7, 2021

CHR asked to probe killings of 9 activists. Inquirer Newsletter. March 8, 2021.

Regions

Most Palawan front-liners decline China jab

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY—Majority of the front-line medical workers in the government-run Ospital Ng Palawan (ONP) in this city refused to be vaccinated with the China-made CoronaVac and opted to wait for the arrival of the jab manufactured by a British pharmaceutical company. —Story by Romar Miranda

Board Talk

Why just one month for women?

March is National Women’s Month. Only March? Is it not funny that we treat the subject of women like a minority when we are half of the population? Sometimes you wonder why there needs to be a month to celebrate women rather than celebrating their successes every day. —Story by Pacita U. Juan

Newsletter / Join us

Has this been forwarded by a friend? Subscribe now to the Philippine Daily Inquirer Newsletter and get your latest news and important updates on COVID-19.

Banner Story

CHR asked to probe killings of 9 activists

By Maricar Cinco, Delfin T. Mallari Jr. and Krixia Subingsubing @Team_Inquirer

Nine activists were killed, most of them in their own homes, and at least four others were arrested in police and military raids early on Sunday.

Six were killed in Rizal province, two in Batangas, and one in Cavite, said the police in the Calabarzon region.

The simultaneous raids were carried out by the Philippine National Police together with the Armed Forces of the Philippines to serve search warrants for loose firearms and illegal possession of explosives, according to Lt. Col. Chitadel Gaoiran, spokesperson for the Calabarzon police.

“We will not be silenced, and we call on all Filipinos to condemn these raids and to stand with us in the struggle for justice and in defending people’s rights,” Cristina Palabay, Karapatan national secretary general, said as her group urged the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to investigate the raids and “ensure that justice and accountability is served for the victims of state terror and fascism.”

The police have not immediately released the names of the fatalities, but human rights advocacy group Karapatan identified five of them as Emmanuel “Manny” Asuncion, a Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) coordinator in Cavite who was killed in a police raid in his home in that province; Mark Lee Bacasno and Melvin Dasigao, both members of the urban poor group San Isidro Kasiglahan, Kapatiran at Damayan para sa Kabuhayan, Katarungan at Kapayapaan (SIKKAD K-3), who were killed in Rodriguez, Rizal; and Ariel Evangelista and his wife, Chai Lemita Evangelista, activists who advocated fishermen’s rights, who were killed in their home in Nasugbu, Batangas.

According to Karapatan, the Evangelistas’ 10-year-old son survived the raid by hiding under a bed.

The group also claimed that the police who raided the Evangelista home took away the bodies of the couple, which Chai Evangelista’s mother, Inday Lemita, later found at the John Paul funeral home in Nasugbu. —WITH REPORTS FROM NESTOR CORRALES AND JEANNETTE I. ANDRADE INQ

Editorial

Potential ‍growth driver

A major boom in the technology sector is being anticipated as a result of the emerging 'new normal' of social distancing and working online globally. This will create a huge demand for ever-more sophisticated communication gadgets such as computers and mobile phones and tablets.

Read full story: opinion.inquirer.net