Marker to rise at site where 2 missing activists were abducted
Human rights and militant groups here will erect today a marker at the site where two activists were abducted last year as part of activities marking the 36th anniversary of the declaration of martial law.
Relatives, friends and colleagues of Ma. Luisa Posa-Dominado and Nilo Arado will converge at the Molo District plaza this morning before proceeding to Barangay Cabanbanan in Oton town, 7 km south of the city, where they will unveil the marker.
The marker consists of billboard-type structure with the names of Dominado and Arado and the date they were abducted.
"The marker is a symbol that forced disappearances, abductions, killings of activists that we thought went away with Martial Law remain and has even worsened," said Fortunato Pelaez, spokesperson of the Samahan ng Mga Ex-Detainees Laban sa Detensyon at para sa Amnestiya (Selda), a group of former political detainees imprisoned mostly during the Marcos Dictatorship.
"We must not stop fighting and condemning these inhumane acts as long as they persist," said Pelaez.
The two activists have remained missing since April 12, 2007 after heavily armed men abducted and forcibly took them after they waylaid the victims' vehicle. Their vehicle was found badly burned in a sugarcane field in Janiuay town 30 km from where they were waylaid.
Their abductors also shot and seriously wounded human rights worker Jose Ely Garachico and left him for dead. Garachico however survived after weeks of medical treatment.
Dominado, a prominent political detainee during the Marcos Dictatorship, was the spokesperson in Panay of Selda while Arado was the chair of the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan in Panay when they were abducted.
The victim's families and fellow activists have accused government agents as the ones responsible for the abduction but these has been repeatedly denied by police and military officials.
The Iloilo Regional Trial Court is hearing a pending petition for a writ amparo filed by the families of the missing activists against police and military officials.
In the afternoon, protesters led by the Bagong Alyansang Makayaban will march in the city's main streets before holding a protest rally at the grounds of the Iloilo provincial capitol.