Kal welcomed back as ‘revolutionary hero’
by Maujerie Ann Miranda
Activists as well as family and friends of Kaliska Dominica Peralta commemorated her life as “a revolutionary hero of the people” through a grand tribute at the Cine Adarna, University of the Philippines Diliman (UP Diliman) last Saturday, April 20.
The grand tribute for Peralta also called for justice and accountability from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) her supporters said summarily killed her.
According to reports, Peralta was unarmed when she was summarily executed by 1003rd Infantry Brigade of the AFP in Bukidnon where she served as a fighter for the New People’s Army (NPA).
State forces meanwhile said Peralta was killed in an encounter, an account disputed by eyewitness accounts.
READ: Groups demand investigation on ‘summary execution’ of former UP student leader
Peralta, known as Ka (Comrade) Rekka in the the NPA, was 33 at the time of her death.
She was a filmmaker, athlete, UP Diliman scholar, student leader and activist who led mass campaigns inside and outside the university.
She later joined the revolutionary path, “seeing the necessity to fight for a society that is truly free, and against intensifying oppression and exploitation after numerous experiences of integration with different oppressed sectors, according to tributes,” the tributes said.
Friends and colleagues remembered Peralta as big-hearted, strong-willed, hardworking, passionate, and selfless. #
