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Panay-wide caravan honors the heroes and martyrs

In the wake of killings of members and leaders of militant organizations in Luzon, a 'caravan for justice' journeyed around Panay over the weekend in anticipation of All Saints' Day.

Human rights groups Panay Alliance-Karapatan and Mothers and Relatives Against Tyranny (Martyr) spearheaded the Panay-wide caravan in honor of contemporary Panayanons who died in the struggle for freedom.

Martyr has listed nearly 400 such 'martyrs and heroes', who were remembered and honored in this years Luksang Bayan (people's mourning). Included in the list are peasant leader Valeriano Caro and Evelio Javier.

Meanwhile, human rights groups here condemned the spate of killings of leaders of cause-oriented group in Central Luzon.

'We have the strongest condemnation for the senseless and brutal killings of Central Azucarera de Tarlac (CATLU) President Ricardo Ramos, Piston-Bulacan president Federico de Leon, Bayan-Pampanga chairman Francisco Rivera and Dr. Angel David and Von John Maniti on Tuesday and Wednesday this week,' said Samuel Torato, Panay Alliance secretary general.

Torato joined the call for swift and judicious investigation of the killings. He criticized Army chief Lt. Gen. Hermogenes Esperon for putting the blame on militant groups, who, he said, will kill their own' to destabilize' the government.

'Surely, our heroes and martyrs must be turning over their graves on issues of GMA's cheating, lying and stealing and of 'calibrated and pre-emptive response', EO 464 and the 12% EVAT,' Panay Alliance and Martyr said. They will rest only when the people, especially the poor are living truly decent and free lives.

The caravan will started in Molo district Saturday morning. It had stopovers in Belison, Antique, in Kalibo and in Roxas City to join relatives and friends of martyrs and heroes in activities commemorating their courage and selfless sacrifice for the sake of the country. The caravan ended Sunday afternoon at Plaza Libertad, Iloilo City where a simple program capped the two-day activity.

Began in the last years of the Marcos dictatorship to grieve and seek justice for the many who were killed in extra-judicial killings or 'salvaging' in the hands of the military machinery of martial law, Luksang Bayan has become a yearly activity, usually on the weekend before All Saints Day.

'Through the caravan, we hope to reach out to the relatives of heroes and martyrs in other places in Panay and to the people as a whole,' said Jocelyn Mana-ay, Martyr chairperson.

She noted that most of the activities in the past have been centered in Iloilo City, where a monument has been erected in Plaza Libertad for the heroes and martyrs. For most of the loving families, however, it is not just the monument that can give them honor.

'The most fitting honor we can give them is to keep burning the flame of struggle that they started,' they said.

(Leeboy Garachico)