Anticipating International Human Rights Day, the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) along with Anakpawis Partylist and other progressive organizations held a picket protest at the Commission on Human Rights in Quezon City to demand justice for the killings of leaders and organizers and to denounce the continuing human rights violations under the US-Marcos regime. The mobilization centered on the killings of Randall “Ka Randy” Echanis, Joseph Canlas, Ericson Acosta, Kerima Tariman, Jude Fernandez, and dismantling of NTF-ELCAC.

Ka Randy Echanis, a veteran peasant leader and longtime KMP deputy secretary general, was murdered in August 2020 at the height of lockdown and during Duterte’s crackdown on activists and peace consultants. Five years on, no one has been held accountable. Joseph Canlas, a champion of Central Luzon peasants, was arrested on trumped-up charges in March 2021 and died weeks later after contracting COVID-19 in detention and being denied proper medical care– an outcome rooted in the climate of persecution fostered under Duterte.

Ericson Acosta, NDFP consultant and peasant organizer, was was captured alive then killed by state forces on November 30, 2022. A poet and cultural worker, Acosta dedicated decades to advancing the rights of peasants and farmworkers. Kerima Tariman, also a cultural worker and peasant organizer, also captured alive after an encounter in Silay City in August 2021 but was later declared dead– an apparent violation of international humanitarian law regarding persons hors de combat. Veteran worker and peasant organizer Jude Fernandez, whose activism stretched from the 1970s onward, was killed in Binangonan, Rizal in September 2023.

“Ipinapakita ng mga pamamaslang na ito kung paano itinuturing ng estado ang mga lider-magsasaka bilang kalaban, sa halip na mamamayang nagtatanggol sa kanilang karapatan,” said Ronnie Manalo, Secretary General of KMP and spokesperson of Tanggol Magsasaka. “Sa loob ng maraming dekada, tinarget ang ating mga lider dahil lamang sa pag-oorganisa sa mga komunidad, paglaban para sa lupa, at paglalantad ng pang-aabuso. Hindi kami titigil sa paghingi ng hustisya. Karugtong sa mga isyu ng korapsyon, dapat ding managot ang mga rehimeng Marcos at Duterte sa krimeng ito laban sa mga naghihikahos na sektor sa kanayunan.”

The spate of killings underscores how deeply unprotected the rights of marginalized sectors remain. Succeeding regimes after the fall of the Marcos dictatorship have allowed state forces to trample on fundamental freedoms of speech, organization, and assembly. KMP asserts that justice for its martyred leaders and organizers must include confronting state terrorism and pushing forward the struggle for genuine land reform and national democracy so that the rights of the majority may finally be upheld.