“No cover-up could undermine this established political killing. Killing Ka Randy, a leader of Anakpawis and Philippine peasant movement, is clearly an act of state terrorism. This targetting of an unarmed civilian is also known as crime against humanity in the International Criminal Court. Ka Randy’s murder adds to the bloody criminal record of the Duterte regime.” — Zenaida Soriano, Chairperson, Amihan National
“Ito ay bahagi ng nagpapatuloy na crackdown sa hanay ng mga kritiko ng rehimen. Nagluluksa kami ngayon. Ano pa ba ang gusto ninyo, pinatay na ninyo ang aming ama. Ano pa ba ang gusto ninyo gawin, yurak-yurakan pa? Hindi pa ba kayo kuntento. Bigyan ninyo kami ng panahon na magluksa. Bigyan ninyo kami ng panahon na alayan ng dignidad ang aming ama. Bigyan ninyo kami ng panahon na maningil at maniningil kami sa takdang panahon.” — Ariel Casilao, Former Representative, Anakpawis Party List
Bigo ang
mga pusakal
matapos dambahin ng
duwag na salarin at
hablutin ang kanyang
hininga.
Muli nilang itinakas
ang walang buhay
na katawan at
hiningang nilagas
ng bala at
patalim.
Sa paga-aakalang
nasa kalamnan nito
ang husay at yaman
ng prinsipyong
umuugnay sa dibdib
ng walang tinig
at karaniwan.
Ipinagkamaling
ang bukal ng talino,
ay isa lamang tiningkal
na lupa sa gitna,
ng nag-aalimpuyong
init ng araw
sa kanayunan.
Humahalakhak na
sinaklot ang hininga,
sa pag-asang
magwawakas
mga sulatin ang paksa,
ay ugat at butil,
at liyab ng apoy.
Namamag-asa
ang mga hunghang!
na sa pagkitil,
sadyang maagaw din
ang bukal ng yaman
mayron si
ka Randy.
Ibarra Banaag
Agosto 12, 2020
Nagsagawa ng indignation rally ang iba’t ibang progresibong grupo at peace advocates upang ipanawagan ang hustisya para kay NDFP Peace Consultant Randall “Ka Randy” Echanis na brutal na pinaslang sa kaniyang tinitirhang bahay noong Agosto 10. Ginanap ang naturang protesta sa harapan ng Liwasang Diokno, Commission on Human Rights, Commonwealth Avenue, Quezon City, kahapon, Agosto 11.
Kabilang din dito ang mga kaibigan ni Ka Randy na hanggang ngayon ay hawak pa rin ng PNP ang bangkay.
ni George Tumaob Calaor
Traidor at saksak sa pagkaberdugo nilang kinitil ang iyong buhay
at ngayoy buong dahas na kinakamkam ang iyong bangkay
hindi sila nagtagumpay
sa pagkukubli ng katotohanang sila’y sangkot sa iyong pagkamatay
lunurin pa nila sa kasinulingan, baluktot na pangangatwirang naglalaway
sila!!!
Kung bakit kayo ngayoy nakahimlay!
Ikaw ay lupang
pasistang kinakamkam ng ganid
at pagkagahaman…
Ikaw ay sagana
sa kanayunang dinukot
ng sa lupa ay buong dahas
na nagdiyos-diyosan
Ikaw ang hustisyang
pinagdamutan
ng katarungan!
at higit sa lahat
Ikaw ay larangan
ng namiminto nang bisperas
ng kanilang kagapian!
‘Pagkat kamatayan niyo
ay kamatayan ng
pananagumpay!
Mababawi ang kanilang
dinukot at kinamkam!
Lalaya ang buhay
Hitik sa kawalan ng uri
sagana at pantay!
Randall Echanis
Bakit ko kayo titigilan
kung patuloy ninyong pinipiga,
pinapahirapan ang mga magsasaka
at dinudusta ang masa?
Bakit ko kayo titigilan
kung patuloy ninyong kinukurakot
ang pondo ng bayan,
pinapatay, ikinukulong
at dinudukot
ang mga aktibista
na sa inyo’y lumalaban?
Bakit ko kayo titigilan
kung patuloy kayong sunud-sunuran
sa mga sakim na dayuhan
na dumarambong sa yaman ng mahal kong bayan?
Hinding-hindi ko kayo titigilan
hangga’t may palalong tirano
na nakaupo sa palasyo
na hangga’t ang mga anakpawis
ay walang kapangyarihan.
Hinding-hindi ko kayo titigilan.
Sinulat niya ang tulang ito noong Disyembre 2008 habang nakapiit sa Manila City Jail sa gawa- gawang kaso na isinampa sa kanya.
(Alay kay Randall “ Ka Randy” Echanis)
by Prestoline Suyat
Pusikit pa ang gabi
nang pilit kang binunot
binistay ng mga bala
pinagsasaksak
hanggang malagutan nang hininga.
Pinilit kang inilayo
itinangging ikaw ang bangkay
na dinuhagi ng mga demonyo.
Ngunit paanong hindi makikilala
ang mabuting binhi
ang sibol na pinagyaman
ng mapagpalang mga kamay
ng mga mangunguma;
ang bigas na pinalusog
ng maraming taon ng paglilingkod at pakikibaka?
Pinilit kang binunot
ngunit tulad ng iba
ginintuan ka ng palay
sa matabang lupa
ng paglaban ng masa.
Nag-akala sila
ngunit nalinlang.
Paano ka mabubunot sa amin?
Hindi ang lagablab ng digmaan,
Hindi ang kadiliman ng bartolina,
Hindi ng mga dagok at hambalos ng pang-aapi,
Hindi ng mga unos ng pagmamalupit,
Hindi ng brutalidad ng pagpaslang.
Ikaw din na di na lang binhi
kundi nagpataba ng lupa
ng rebolusyong inangkin mo
at inalay sa bayan.
(For Randall Echanis)
by Lou Gartha Kho-Mawis
After that slow fear
crawling over our spirits
The rage takes over
Quick
Shooting like lightning
Charring the apathy of day
The helplessness of night
Then elightenment
We wriggle
Free from our chains
On tiptoe
we reach for the dreams
We thought were behind us
The gap that we must bridge
is worth our final breath
Our dreams conceive
a world without borders
Hands without chains
In the darkness
we have already died
Struggle is
Our resurrection
Randall Echanis, long-time National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) peace consultant, was killed early Monday morning, August 10, in Novaliches, Quezon City.
His peasant organization colleagues said Echanis’ murder may be by state forces.
He was killed with a still unidentified neighbor, Anakpawis Party also reported.
Echanis died of multiple stab wounds on his back based on an early police report, his colleagues told Kodao. His remains will be autopsied, they added.
Former Anakpawis Congressman Ariel Casilao said that Echanis “was undergoing medical treatment, and was unarmed, when suspected state forces raided his house.”
Echanis actively participated in peace negotiations with the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) since 2002 and served as vice-chairperson of the NDFP’s Reciprocal Working Committee on Social and Economic Reforms.
He was NDFP’s leading consultant on agrarian reform and played a key role in the drafting of documents on agrarian reform and rural development and the Comprehensive Agreement on Social and Reforms.
The victim, 72 years old, was also the incumbent deputy secretary general of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas.
As peasant leader, Echanis spearheaded nationwide campaigns for genuine agrarian reform, including free land distribution to Filipino farmers. He was instrumental in crafting the Genuine Agrarian Reform Bill (GARB) repeatedly filed in Congress since its first filing in 2007.
A former political detainee, Echanis was arrested three times during the Marcos, Aquino, and Arroyo regimes. He became Anakpawis Party’s third nominee after his latest release from jail in 2010.
Swift condemnation
NDFP chief political consultant Jose Maria Sison condemned the murders, saying Department of Interior and Local Government secretary Eduardo Año may know about the killings.
“It is widely known that the DILG secretary Año has been boasting to his staff and other people that he has mapped out the locations of all social activists through the local governments and neighborhoods and that he can wipe them out the social activists anytime,” Sison said.
“This boasting of Año is taken seriously by all the social activists that he threatens to kill,” he added.
Sison said Echanis’ murder will have far reaching consequences as it arouses the indignation and just wrath of the peasant masses and the entire Filipino people.
“All social activists have no choice but to intensify in every necessary way their struggle against the tyrant, traitor, butcher and plunderer Duterte,” he said.
NDFP Negotiating Panel legal consultant Edre Olalia for his part said “ruthless dark forces have struck again” with Echanis’ murder.
“Are we totally and almost irretrievably shutting the doors and windows of a potential peaceful resolution of the perennial ills of society by sowing terror and trepidation among those who present alternative solutions? Where will the people go thence for their legal struggles if they are not welcome?” Olalia asked.
Echanis is the third NDFP peace consultant killed after President Rodrigo Duterte cancelled peace negotiations in June 2017.
Felix Randy Malayao, NDFP peace consultant for Cagayan Valley, was killed in his sleep inside a bus in Aritao, Nueva Vizcaya in January 2019.
Julius Giron, designated as National Consultant Number 1 due to his seniority in the Communist Party of the Philippines, was also brutally killed in a combined police and military raid in Baguio City last March 13.
Giron was the holder of a Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees Document of Identification (DI) number 978410 under the name of Arnold Cruz.
All three were killed in the early hours of the morning.
They also were born and raised in Northern Luzon: Echanis in the Ilocos Region, Malayao in Cagayan Valley and Giron in the Cordilerras.
“How bad can it get? It is almost conclusory that the ruthless dark forces have struck again. How then can we encourage people to openly and effectively engage in legitimate causes and advocacies for social and economic reforms if you treacherously silence them?” Olalia further asked. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)