“We condemn the arrest of peasant leader Tony Pajalla. We demand the Quezon-PNP to surface him as soon as possible.”

By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
Bulatlat

MANILA – A peasant organization is calling on the Philippine National Police to surface one of its leaders whom police forces arrested in Quezon province today, Aug. 12.

In a press release, Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas said Antonio Pajalla, its national vice chairperson and provincial coordinator of the peasant group Piglas-Quezon called his colleagues at around 3 p.m., informing them that he was being arrested by men from PNP-Macalelon, and that he was to be brought to Gumaca town.

However, his whereabouts, as of writing, remain unknown. KMP said his family and colleagues can no longer contact Pajalla.

The peasant leader, who was recently appointed as KMP vice chairperson during its national meeting last month, was last seen at the Macalelon Municipal Hall where he submitted solicitation letters for the regional assembly of the claimants of the group Coco Levy Fund Ibalik sa Amin Movement (CLAIM) slated next week.

KMP said human rights activists from Tanggol Magsasaka and Karapatan-Quezon has launched a quick reaction team to find Pajalla.

“We condemn the arrest of peasant leader Tony Pajalla. We demand the Quezon-PNP to surface him as soon as possible,” KMP secretary general Antonio Flores said.

Flores added that Pajalla has been leading coconut farmers in Quezon to fight for the multibillion coco levy fund and is spearheading a march to the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) and Malacañang in Manila to demand the immediate return of the coco levy fund to farmers.