Another rights worker slain as 'lurking evil' stalks Philippines, bishop says

Nuns and other worshippers pray during a Mass in solidarity against human rights abuses in Quezon City, Philippines, Feb. 16, 2019. (CNS photo/Eloisa Lopez, Reuters)

April 26, 2019
Catholic San Francisco

A Catholic bishop in the central Philippines has condemned the Easter Monday killing of a human rights worker and called for an end to a wave of "barbaric and calculated assassinations," the Union of Catholic Asian News reported April 26 ftrom Manila.

Bernardino "Toto" Patigas Sr., 72, was killed in front of a high school in Barangay Alimango by a motorcycle-riding man, who tailed him from the city proper. He was shot three times, twice on the head, and died immediately, the Philippines News Agency reported.

Police have a focused on "the personal angle" in the case and have identified a person of interest, the agency reported.

Bishop Gerardo Alminaza of San Carlos described the slain human rights worker as a "martyr of the sugar workers’ struggles" on the island of Negros. He said Patigas "has joined the death list of the lurking evil in our midst." 

Bishop Alminaza's statement on the killing was posted on the Facebook page Promotion of Church People's Response.

"In sadness, we all are crying out: End the Killings! These barbaric and calculated assassinations must end! We should not tolerate this kind of crime," he said.

The bishop described the victim as a dedicated human rights worker and a devoted church worker. He was a mission partner of the Carmelites in Escalante City and a Parish Pastoral Council President of St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Old Escalante. "He tirelessly worked for the Basic Ecclesial Communities  program of the parish," the bishop said.

"His faith moved him to serve his poor brothers and sisters and was admired by the locals because of his humility and simplicity. He was a veteran grassroots activist, an active campaigner against coal in Northern Negros, and it was ironical that he was mercilessly killed on Earth Day!" the bishop said.

Patigas survived the 1985 Escalante Massacre perpetrated by the Marcos regime, a harrowing experience of the massacre emboldened him to work more for the cause of the workers, the bishop said.

"His dedication to social justice is highly commendable, as he selflessly gave his life serving the oppressed and exploited sugarcane workers of the Negros island," the bishop said. "With his untiring commitment to the cause of the poor, he received numerous death threats and harassment."

Elected a city councilor of Escalante, Patigas "amplified the voices of the toiling sugarcane workers, fisherfolks and urban poor; and organized mass actions, such as the annual commemoration of the Escalante Massacre," the bishop said.

Patigas "has joined the death list of the lurking evil in our midst, though often admired among our fellow Filipinos," the bishop said. "May the growing death list disturb the consciences of the murderers. It is my ardent prayer that instead of perpetrating violence, they may open their eyes to the reality of truth – that life is precious, that it is a sin to kill."

The human rights organization Karapatan called the killing “an act of cowardice" and blamed "the bloodied hands of the Duterte government, which has considered activists as enemies."

Karapatan deputy secretary general Roneo Clamor said the killing of Patigas is the latest in a string of attacks against activists and human rights defenders in Negros.

"At least 50 peasants and rights advocates have been killed in Negros since July 2016," he said. "The use of riding-in-tandem gunmen, reminiscent of death squads, is their preferred method of execution."

He said that following the latest killing "various known progressive personalities in Negros" received threatening text messages from an unknown mobile number.