Philippines-Canada Task Force on Human Rights (PCTFHR)
Statement

CANADIANS CONDEMN ARREST OF PHILIPPINE PEASANT LEADER AND PEACE ADVOCATE RANDALL ENCHANIS

February 8, 2008

The Philippines-Canada Task Force on Human Rights (PCTFHR) condemns the illegal arrest of Deputy Secretary General of Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP), Mr. Randall Echanis.  His arrest took place during the Unyon ng Manggagawa sa Agrikultura and National Federation of Sugar Workers Conference for Genuine Agrarian Reform gathering in Bago City, Negros Occidental on January 28, 2008 in the Philippines.

Mr. Enchanis was arrested on trumped up charges of murder accusing him of being involved in murders in 1984. It should be noted that Mr. Enchancis was a political prisoner form 1983-86. Also, it is the same charges of murder for which the Philippine President Arroyo regime had ordered the arrest of Congressman Satur Ocampo in December 2006 and on which the Philippine Supreme Court dismissed and ordered that Congressman Ocampo be released.

In his stand for the peasants and people of the Philippines, Mr. Randall “Ka Randy” Echanis has become an outspoken critic of the current Arroyo regime’s outright fascist and anti-people policies and programs. Likewise, he plays an important role in the peace negotiations between the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP)  and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP). Mr. Echanis participated in formal peace talks in Oslo and has taken part in discussions towards a draft tentative agreement on social and economic reforms, the second substantive agenda in the GRP-NDFP peace negotiations.

As concerned Canadians, we see Enchanis’ arrest and detention as part of the Arroyo government’s continuing attempts to persecute those who support and actively work for social justice. Under Arroyo’s counter-insurgency program, Oplan Bantay Laya II (Operation Freedom Watch), close to 900 people have been victims of extrajudicial killings and over 1 million displaced because of increased militarization. In arresting Enchanis, Arroyo also once again exposes her administration’s unwillingness to engage in peace negotiations with the NDFP whose forces are involved in a just struggle for genuine national and social liberation. Arroyo has continued to stall the important peace negotiations.

It is evident and clear that the Philippine Government under the Arroyo Regime is falsely accusing those who support and actively work for social justice as a front to the success of the Oplan Bantay Laya II.  These trumped up charges are nothing less than a tool to silence those who fight for social change and for those who fight to end the oppression of Filipino peasants.

We stand in solidarity with Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) and all other organizations that clearly see the detainment of Ka Randy as yet another case of systematic political persecution against militant mass movement. 

Free Randall “Ka Randy” Echanis!
Philippine President Arroyo: Resume the Peace Negotiations with the NDFP! 
Scrap Oplan Bantay Laya II (Operation Freedom Watch)!
Long live international solidarity!

For Reference: Jon Nieto, Vice-Chair, B.C. Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (BCCHRP)

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