“Nimfa thinks nothing of her own sicknesses like hypertension, anemia and rhinitis just so she can be of help whenever she is needed even if it means walking for kilometers to visit political prisoners. When did it become a crime to help people in need?”
“The attacks on Atty. Guillen and the Southern Luzon activists are not just a condemnable assault on a member of the legal profession and civil society actors, but also a stab to the heart of the Constitution…”
“This latest decision of the court which overturned the presumption that the search warrant issued by Judge Burgos-Villavert satisfied the constitutional requirement of definiteness, has increasingly disproved the competence and integrity of the said judge as well as other similar judges who have arbitrarily issued search warrants against known activist and members of caused-oriented organizations.”
This latest spate of attacks against activists came a mere nine weeks since the PNP launched a similar operation in Panay island. Nine people were killed and 17 were arrested by the police in several indigenous Tumandok communities on Dec 30, 2020.
Human rights group Karapatan Timog Katagalugan said Dumagat Sierra Madre members Puroy dela Cruz and Randy dela Cruz were shot dead by the police in Sitio Mina, Barangay Sta. Inez, Tanay, Rizal. Urban poor activists Abner Esto and Edward Esto were also killed by the police in sitio Macaingalan, Barangay Puray, Rodriguez, Rizal as part of the Conduct of Simultaneous Implementation of Search Warrants dubbed COPLAN ASVAL by the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines across four provinces last March 7.
It had been such a long flight that this elderly person just slumped on the floor as we waited for our luggage to come out.