By Tara Yap
Iloilo City - Left-leaning activists from Bayan Panay on Friday led a picket outside Camp Delgado to protest against a memorandum order released a year ago that targets activists mostly in Western Visayas.
Bayan Muna Panay activists hold a Friday rally outside Camp Delgado, the Western Visayas regional headquarters of the Philippine National Police (PNP) in Iloilo City. (Bayan Muna Panay)
The camp houses Philippine National Police regional headquarters in this city as well as some offices of the Philippine Army in the region.
Elmer Forro, Bayan Panay secretary-general, said the Duterte administration has deployed more soldiers and cops in Negros and Samar to target progressive groups under the guise of mitigating lawless violence.
Forro lamented the irregular issuance of search warrants against activists and the numerous killings that have transpired in Negros since last year.
Based on records of left-wing human rights group Karapatan Negros, there are now 91 political prisoners, 86 of whom were arrested during Duterte’s administration. There were also 89 deaths.
Forro also noted how activist groups in Samar and Leyte linked 34 of the deaths to extrajudicial killings.
“Duterte can no longer reign under a democracy and it is wrong to criminalize dissent,” Forro added.