For Danah, the struggle is far from over.
By JUSTIN UMALI
Bulatlat.com
SANTA CRUZ, Laguna – Freedom could not come sooner for peasant organizer Danah Marie Marcellana, released on bail October 6, after two years in prison.
According to the coalition Free our Sisters, Marcellana is “thankful for all the support and help she received to help her achieve freedom through bail.”
Marcellana is a staff member of farmers’ rights organization Katipunan ng mga Samahang Magbubukid sa Timog Katagalugan (KASAMA-TK). She was arrested with her husband, Anakpawis Southern Tagalog coordinator Christian Relao, in baragay San Diego, San Pablo City, Laguna province, on July 24, 2021. The couple were arrested while taking care of their child, then barely two years old.
Marcellana and Relao were arrested on a charge of rebellion filed in 2008. Marcellana was 12 years old at the time of the alleged incident.
JUST IN: Peasant organizer Danah Marie Marcella is now out on bail. She was arrested without a warrant in June 2021 along with her husband in Laguna. Authorities charged her with murder, rebellion and illegal possession of firearms and explosives. pic.twitter.com/Rc5yP70MSS
— Bulatlat (@bulatlat) October 6, 2023
Orly Marcellana, Tanggol Magsasaka Timog Katagalugan spokesperson and Danah’s father, said that state forces could try to “scare the people but they could not stop the struggle of a people oppressed by an illegitimate President and Vice-President.”
News of Marcellana’s release came as the Malolos Regional Trial Court acquitted retired General Jovito Palparan Jr. on charges of kidnapping and illegal detention against farmers Raymond and Reynaldo Manalo.
Palparan, infamously known as the “Butcher”, was the chief instrument of a series of enforced disappearances, incidents of torture, and extrajudicial killings under the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo administration. For the Marcellana family, Palparan is an ever-present nightmare.
Danah’s mother was killed by state forces under Palparan’s command when she was seven. Eden Marcellana was the secretary general of human rights watchdog Karapatan Southern Tagalog and was known as an “encyclopedia of human rights cases” because of her wealth of experience as a human rights defender.
On April 21, 2003, Eden was in Mindoro Oriental to investigate reports of countryside bombings and human rights abuse under Oplan Habol Tamaraw. She and KASAMA-TK Chairperson Eduardo Gumanoy were accosted at a checkpoint by members of the Bonnet Gang – a hit squad linked to Palparan’s 204th Infantry Battalion. They were found lifeless the next day, their bodies bore marks of severe torture.
Palparan, then a Colonel, was soon redeployed to Rizal province, before moving on to Central Luzon. President Macapagal-Arroyo would promote him to a Brigadier General.
Read: The Trail of Blood: Following Army Gen. Jovito Palparan Jr.
Read: Relatives, colleagues of victims killed 12 years ago cry for justice
Read: 72 Southern Tagalog activists charged with common crimes
Read: Peasant leader calls on military to surface his missing daughter, 3 others
Read: 2 peasant organizers arrested in Laguna
The Marcellanas have been hounded by threats and harassment since then. Soon after Eden was laid to rest, Orly received text messages indicating that “Danah will be next as soon as she turned 18.” Danah was seven when her mother was slain. Despite this, Orly persevered as a peasant organizer and human rights defender; Danah would eventually join her parents’ footsteps and take the path less traveled.
Currently, Orly is one of the 14 activists charged with violations of Batasang Pambansa Blg. 880, connected to their participation in this year’s State of the Nation Address protests. Danah, meanwhile, is still facing the rebellion charges filed against her, as well as three other charges in Catanauan, Quezon.
For Danah, the struggle is far from over. “The struggle for justice for those killed and abducted by Palparan continues,” Free our Sisters said in its statement. “The struggle continues to free all political prisoners.” (RVO) 
