Peasant group Amihan Women on Wednesday (Feb. 17) demanded justice for slain barangay councilor and Anakpawis campaigner Lucresia Tasic who was shot dead inside her home in Balilihan, Bohol.
Tasic, 55, a councilor of Barangay Hanopol Norte, was killed by two unidentified gunmen on Tuesday morning, Feb. 16.
Amihan Women mourned the death of Tasic and called for the termination of Anti-Terror Law and other state policies "authorizing extra-judicial killings, illegal arrests, and detention, and red-tagging, and other forms of human rights violations."
"Moreover, before her death, she was constantly harassed and red-tagged by Duterte's state forces and forced to clear her name and quit the organization," Zenaida Soriano, National Chairperson of Amihan, said.
The peasant leader also urged the public to condemn the killing of Lucresia and other EJK victims and to hold Duterte and his state forces accountable.
Soriano likewise slammed the administration's huge budget for security and military offices and programs as the marginalized and vulnerable sectors remain in dire need of aid and support to livelihood amid the pandemic and food crisis.
In 2018, President Duterte approved the second Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) modernization program with around P300 billion budget to be implemented from 2018 to 2022.
In February, former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief and now Senator Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa proposed a P130 billion budget for the modernization of the PNP.
Meanwhile, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said the national government has earmarked P838 billion for various COVID-19 response measures in 2021, ranging from medical equipment, test kits, and vaccines.