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NDFP condemns arrest of
Randall Echanis, member of NDFP Reciprocal Working Committee on Social and
Economic Reforms
Luis G. Jalandoni
Chairperson
Negotiating Panel
National Democratic Front of the Philippines
January 29, 2008
The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) vigorously
condemns the illegal arrest of Mr. Randall Echanis, member of the NDFP
Reciprocal Working Committee (RWC) on Social and Economic Reforms (SER),
by the Arroyo regime’s police agents yesterday at Bago City, Negros
Occidental. Mr. Echanis was in Bago City to attend a conference of
agricultural workers in preparation for a national rural congress.
Mr. Echanis has 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, with his counterpart in the GRP-RWC on SER. He has played a
key role in developing the NDFP draft of the Comprehensive Agreement on
Social and Economic Reforms, especially with regard to the peasant
question and land reform.
His illegal arrest by the regime’s police forces is a flagrant violation
of the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG). Mr.
Echanis, publicly known as a member of the NDFP official delegation to
peace talks and known to the officials of the Royal Norwegian Government
as Third Party Facilitator of the GRP-NDFP peace negotiations, is fully
protected by the safety and immunity guarantees stipulated in the JASIG.
The trumped up charges filed against Mr. Echanis are clearly false. He was
arrested in 1983 and kept in solitary confinement first in Camp Aguinaldo
under then Col. Gregorio Honasan and then in Tuguegarao, Cagayan until his
release in March 1986 with the downfall of the Marcos regime. Yet, he is
accused of an alleged crime that supposedly happened in 1984-85. It is the
same case for which the Arroyo regime had ordered the arrest of
Congressman Satur Ocampo in December 2006 and on which the Philippine
Supreme Court ruled that Congressman Ocampo be released. The filing of
charges of common crimes is also a gross violation of the Comprehensive
Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL).
This arrest of NDFP RWC on SER member Randall Echanis is the latest in a
series of gross violations of the JASIG and CARHRIHL perpetrated by the
Arroyo regime. These violations of binding peace agreements seriously
jeopardize the possibility of the resumption of formal peace talks.
The NDFP demands compliance by the Arroyo regime with the JASIG and
CARHRIHL. The NDFP demands the immediate and unconditional release of
Randall Echanis.
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REFERENCE:
Ruth de Leon
Executive Director
NDFP International Information Office
Tel.+31-30-2310431
Fax +31-84-7589930
Email: ndf@casema.nl
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Profile of Randall Echanis
Randall “Ka Randy” Echanis came from a lower-middle class family. His
father was a native of Ilocos Sur, while his mother was from the nearby
province of Abra. Ka Randy’s wife, Erlinda Lacaba-Echanis, is active in
the workers and peasants’ movement and the chief-of-staff of Anakpawis
Rep. Rafael Mariano. Ka Randy have two offsprings, July and Amanda Echanis.
They are both active in the youth and students’ movement and children’s
rights advocacy.
He was exposed to activism as a student of then Philippine College of
Commerce (now Polytechnic University of the Philippines) when he joined
rallies condemning the United States’ war of aggression against Vietnam
and immersed in student issues. In college, he joined the Kabataang
Makabayan (KM – Patriotic Youth) and became chairperson of KM – University
of the East Chapter in 1970, and a participant of the First Quarter Storm
of 1970.
In the late 1970, Ka Randy was among the batches of activists who
responded to the KM’s call to “Serve the People.” He went to the
countryside and helped in peasant education, propaganda, and organizing
work in Cagayan Valley, Cordillera, and Ilocos regions until his arrest in
July 1983.
He was arrested without warrant by elements of the then Ministry of
National Defense Security Group under Cols. Gregorio Honasan, Red Kapunan,
and Rodolfo Aguinaldo.
From 1983 to 1984, Ka Randy was detained under solitary confinement and
held incommunicado in Camp Aguinaldo. Even his close relatives and lawyers
were not allowed to visit him.
From 1984 to 1986, he was transferred to Camp Adduru, Regional Command 2
Stockade in Tuguegarao, Cagayan until his release in March 1986. For two
years, Ka Randy was under solitary confinement.
He was among the political prisoners released after People Power 1. After
his release in 1986, Echanis joined the Samahan ng mga Ex-Detainees Laban
sa Detensyon at para sa Amnestiya (SELDA) and became a member of its
national council.
Aside from SELDA, he was also a founding member of Partido ng Bayan and a
member of its preparatory organizing committee.
In 1987, Ka Randy went back to peasant organizing until his second arrest
in 1990 by combined elements of the Intelligence Service of the Armed
Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP), the Naval Intelligence and Security
Force (NISF), and the NCRDC.
He was held in a safe house for one week and subjected to physical and
emotional torture before his transfer to Camp Crame Custodial Center
together with his wife Erlinda Lacaba and their daughter, then two-year
old Amanda Echanis, the youngest political prisoner at that time.
He was released from detention in 1992 after a case filed against him for
violation of PD 1866 (illegal possession of firearms in furtherance of
rebellion) was dismissed by the Manila Regional Trial Court. He became
active once more with SELDA and helped in processing claimants in a class
suit against the Marcos dictatorship. Ka Randy also played an active part
in human rights work and in the pre-formation of the human rights watchdog
Karapatan – Alliance for the Advancement of Human Rights.
Due to his steadfast commitment to serve the Filipino peasant masses and
rich experience in advancing the struggle for genuine and thoroughgoing
land reform, Ka Randy was appointed deputy secretary general of the
militant peasant organization Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) in
its 5th National Congress in 1999.
In the year 2001, he was elected member of the national council of the
First Quarter Storm Movement in its First Congress.
Since 2002, Ka Randy helped in the peace negotiations between the
Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the National Democratic
Front of the Philippines as a member of the NDFP Reciprocal Working
Committee for Social and Economic Reforms.
As KMP deputy secretary general for external affairs, Ka Randy attended
and represented KMP in international peasant assemblies and conferences
such as the World Farmers’ Assembly in France, the World Social Forum in
Brazil, the World Anti-Imperialist Conference in Indonesia and a delegate
to the 1st and 2nd Assembly of the International League of Peoples’
Struggle in The Netherlands.
Presently, Ka Randy was once again arrested in Bago City Negros,
Occidental. He was at a conference in preparation for the National Rural
Congress (NRC) being called for by the Catholic Bishops Conference of the
Philippines (CBCP). He is now being attacked by the Arroyo government’s
fascist machinery mainly due to his unwavering commitment and resolve to
uphold the rights and welfare of the Filipino masses. #
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Fact Sheet on Randall Echanis
URGENT ACTION (UA)
KARAPATAN (Alliance for the Advancement of People's
Rights-National)
UA Update: 30 January 2008 (Initial Data)
UA Title: Philippine Peasant Movement's Deputy
Secretary General for
External Affairs arrested in Bago City, Negros
Occidental, Philippines
UA Case: Criminalization of Political Act
Victim/s: Randall "Ka Randy" Echanis
• 60 years old, married with 2 children
• Male
• Deputy Secretary General for External Affairs,
Kilusang Magbubukid
ng Pilipinas or the Philippine Peasant Movement
Place of Incident: inside the Builders Training Center
in Brgy.
Calumangan, Bago City, Negros Occidental
Date of Incident: 28 January 2008, 5:30 PM
Alleged Perpetrators: around 30 armed elements of the
Philippine National Police-Provincial Mobile Group (PNP-PMG) in
plainclothes and ski masks
Account of Incident –
At around 2:00 in the afternoon of 28 January 2008, around 30 armed
elements of the PNP-PMG in plainclothes and ski masks surrounded the
Builders Training Center where the Unyon ng Manggagawang Agrikultura
(UMA) or the Agricultural Workers Union and the Negros Federation of
Sugar Workers (NSFW) were holding a Conference for Genuine Agrarian
Reform. When the participants saw the armed men, they closed the door
and barred them from entering. Two of the policemen were forced to remove
their masks and negotiated with the conference participants. They
introduced themselves as Police Inspectors Dinsing and Dejucos and told
the participants that they were there only to serve the warrant of arrest
of Mr. Randall "Ka Randy" Echanis. The said warrant was issued by Judge
Ephraim Abando of the Regional Trial Court of Hilongos, Leyte with a
charge of 15 counts of multiple murder. The same warrant was used by the
Department of Justice in arresting Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo in 2007.
The negotiation lasted until past 5:00 in the afternoon. Mr. Echanis, in
consultation with a lawyer, decided to go with the policemen. The almost
70 people attending the conference accompanied Mr. Echanis to the Bago
City
Jail.
Mr. Echanis was interrogated until 11:00 in the evening. At past 11:00 PM,
the policemen put him inside a cell. The following day, at around 6:00 AM
of January 29, they let him out of the cell again but remained inside the
jail premises. At past 2:00 in the afternoon, the policemen told Mr.
Echanis that they were going to move him out of the jail to allegedly
present him to the media for a press conference at 3:00 PM at the Negros
Occidental Police Provincial Office (NOPPO). But Randy's colleagues were
surprised when he was forcibly made to board a Huey helicopter and the
police prevented them from accompanying him. Sister Pat Fox of the Rural
Missionaries of the Philippines insisted to board the helicopter with Mr.
Echanis. Instead of going to the NOPPO, the police flew him to Mactan
Airport in Cebu, and once there, they ordered Sister Pat to disembark
because they were
leaving her in Cebu. But she vehemently insisted to accompany Mr. Echanis
to wherever the police were taking him.
From Cebu, they were taken to the Hilongos, Leyte District Hospital
because it was the only place where there is a helipad. From there, Mr.
Echanis was taken to the Regional Trial Court of Hilongos to the sala of
Judge Ephraim Abando for the hearing of the Multiple Murder case. They
arrived there at around 5:00 PM and by 5:30 PM, the hearing was over.
Judge Abando ordered the arresting officers to bring Mr. Echanis to the
Leyte Provincial Jail in Palo but the military and police said that it was
risky to transport the victim and they insisted to keep him in Hilongos.
But at 11:00 in the evening, they changed their minds and proceeded to
bring Mr. Echanis to the Leyte Provincial Jail in Palo. A convoy
consisting of four 6x6 army trucks, a police car and an Armored Personnel
Carrier (APC) accompanied the ambulance carrying Mr. Randall Echanis and
Sister Pat. The travel lasted for three and a half hours. They arrived in
Palo at 2:30 in the morning of 30 January.
Mr. Randall Echanis was elected member of the national council of the
First Quarter Storm Movement in its first Congress. Since 2002, he has
also helped in the peace negotiations between the Government of the
Republic of the Philippines and the National Democratic Front of the
Philippines (NDFP) as a member of the latter's Reciprocal Working
Committee for Social and Economic Reforms. As KMP Deputy Secretary General
for External Affairs, Mr. Echanis represented KMP in various international
farmer assemblies and conferences.
Download complete Karapatan Fact Sheet
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News Release
January 30, 2008
References: Rafael “Ka Paeng” Mariano, chairman of KMP and president
ANAKPAWIS party list
Arrested KMP leader, lawyer
cry torture
KMP asks CBCP to help arrested leader to be freed immediately.
The militant Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) issued a plea to the
Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) to help in the
immediate and unconditional release of KMP deputy secretary general for
external affairs Randall Echanis, who was illegally arrested, detained and
transferred by government forces last Monday and yesterday.
According to Rafael “Ka Paeng” Mariano, chairman of KMP and concurrent
president of ANAKPAWIS party list, “Ka Randy was there to help in the
preparations of farm workers and agricultural workers for the National
Rural Congress (NRC) being called for by the CBCP and to show their
support for the Genuine Agrarian Reform Bill (GARB) or House Bill 3059. It
is but right and moral for the CBCP to at least issue a statement calling
for his immediate release,”
“All Ka Randy was doing was for the welfare of the peasant masses and for
them to have their own land to till. It is also in consonance with the
Church’s call. The Macapagal-Arroyo regime is obviously trying once again
create a chilling effect on its critics and organizations working for
genuine pro-poor change, like genuine agrarian reform,” said Mariano.
Meanwhile, KMP deputy secretary general Randall Echanis cried torture from
his police and military custodians from Bago City in Negros Occidental to
Hilongos town in Leyte . Ka Randy who was arrested in Bago City , Negros
Occidental on Monday was forcibly driven out at around 3:00 in the
afternoon from the Bago City Jail to Bacolod City on Tuesday because
police says that they will present him in a press conference.
"Upon reaching Bacolod City , there were no media but soldiers in full
battle gear and four helicopters, " Echanis said adding: "I was forced to
board a helicopter while my other companions were bodily prevented to go
with me. Only, Sr. Pat Fox of the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines
managed to go with me."
The choppers stopped at Mactan Airbase and the soldiers keep on insisting
to leave Sr. Fox in Cebu . Still, Sr. Fox asserted to go with Echanis to
Hilongos. The KMP leader was presented to Hilongos Regional Trial Court
Judge Ephraim Abando who ordered that Echanis be transferred to the Leyte
Provincial Jail "in accordance with the rules" for being a "high-profile
and high-risk detainee." Echanis, Fox, and his lawyer Jobert Pahilga
calling from Manila asked the police to defer the transfer until Wednesday
morning because it is getting late.
An hour before midnight, upon instructions of PNP regional legal officer
George Almadin, combined police and military elements led by Hilongos
police chief Capt. Landilino Katangkatang and Col. Mario Lacurum of the
43rd Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army moved to transfer Echanis
to the Provincial Jail with four six-by-six trucks of military and an
armored personnel carrier.
"This is torture of a new type," says Pahilga. "My client and his family
were subjected to deceit, intense pressure tantamount to mental and
psychological torture. It's worse than physical torture." Pahilga added
that his client suffer hypertension.
"We are now thinking of filing
appropriate charges against the military and police officers," Pahilga
warned.
For her part, Echanis' wife,
Erlinda, assailed "the police and military's use of excessive force and
resources" against his husband.
"This is exactly the reason
why Ka Randy continuously struggle for the poor. This government is
wasting people's money in the political persecution and worse
extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearance of people fighting for
their rights," Erlinda stressed.
Echanis was arrested on Monday
by military and police elements wearing bonnets (ski masks) and in
civilian clothes, at the Builders Training Center in Barangay Calumangan,
Bago City, Negros Occidental, while attending a consultation with farmers
and farmworkers belonging to the National Federation of Sugar Workers and
Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA) on the Genuine Agrarian
Reform Bill (House Bill 3059) and in preparation for the National Rural
Congress to be spearheaded by the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the
Philippines (CBCP). ►
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Masked men, Bonneted men:
members of the arresting team -- all
camera-shy |
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Philippines-Canada Task Force
on Human Rights (PCTFHR)
Statement
8 February 2008
CANADIANS CONDEMN ARREST OF PHILIPPINE PEASANT LEADER AND PEACE
ADVOCATE RANDALL ENCHANIS
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.
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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) |
