Bayan-Negros reiterated its call to surface urban poor organizer Iver Larit and all other victims of forced disappearance, as well as the resumption of an investigation on his case, a press from Bayan Negros said.
On April 5, 2022, Larit was forcibly taken by alleged state elements during the bloody counterinsurgency campaign of former president Rodrigo Duterte, who is now languishing in international disgrace as it faces prosecution before the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against the Filipino people.
But fascism did not end with Duterte. It continues and intensifies under Marcos Jr., the son of a dictator, who now carries on the legacy of state terror and repression through NTF-ELCAC, which he refuses to abolish, and the same militarist doctrine of silencing all opposition.
Larit, a leader of Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (Kadamay), dedicated his life to the struggle of the urban poor: for housing, livelihood, and their basic dignity. For this, he was branded an “enemy of the state.” He was red-tagged in public tarpaulins in 2018 by the Negros Occidental Provincial Police along with other later-martyred activists like lawyer Benjamin Ramos Jr., Zara Alvarez, and Councilor Bernardino Patigas Sr. He was also among those targeted in the 2019 crackdown on legal activists through the infamous “search warrants on demand” issued by Judge Cecilyn Burgos-Villavert.
According to Bayan, the enforced disappearance of Larit is not an isolated case. It is part of a long, bloody campaign to suppress the people’s resistance. The government refuses to ratify the UN Convention on Enforced Disappearances, choosing instead to shield the perpetrators and continue the practice of abduction, torture, and silence.
The Philippines remains trapped in a semi-feudal, semi-colonial system, where foreign monopoly capital, local landlords, and a fascist state apparatus rule with impunity. Under Marcos Jr., Bayan-Negros has recorded at least seven cases of enforced disappearance – a clear continuation of the same counterinsurgency framework meant to terrorize communities and dismantle movements fighting for national democracy.
Duterte must also be tried in the people’s court for bloody legacy on the people’s resistance. Despite the internal rifts between Marcos and Duterte, they are mere different sides to the same fascist coin. No fascist regime can silence – or disappear – the justness of fighting for genuine change and national liberation, the statement said.*
