{"article":{"id":224271,"heading":"PESANTE SUPPORT ECHANIS FAST","author":"Pesante-USA","created":"2009-01-30 17:34:54","modified":"2013-11-11 00:59:46","last_modified":"Mon, 11 Nov 2013 07:59:46","article":"

PALAYAIN SI RANDALL ECHANIS!

PESANTE NEWS

January 29, 2009

Pesante-USA Supports Jailed peasant leader protest fast

Los Angeles- —Filipino Peasant advoccy group based in LA, Pesante-USA fully and militantly support peasant leader Randall Echanis who is holding a protest fast inside the Manila City Jail on Wednesday to mark the first year of what he said was his \"very unjust\" detention.

\"Pesante-USA is one and in solidarity with all activist organizations, relatives and sympathizers who also went on a fast and camped out in front of the Supreme Court along Padre Faura Street in Manila to call for the release of 60-year-old Echanis and denounce the Arroyo administration's \"fascist stance\" against activists.\" said, Arturo P. Garcia Pesante-USA coordinator

On Friday, the Manila Regional Trial Court will hear Echanis' petition to undergo surgery to remove his inflamed gallbladder at the Philippine Heart Center in Quezon City.

Media reports said reached by phone, Echanis said his detention was \"very unjust.\"Echanis said, \"Kung totoo man yung mass murder, wala ako doon (Even if the mass murder were true, I wasn't there.)\"

He said he was in solitary confinement at Camp Adduru in Cagayan province when the supposed purge happened in 1985, a year before the Marcos regime fell.

\"Gringo Honasan was a [jail] warden then, he could attest that I was really in jail,\" he added. \"This is just part of the harassment of activists who openly criticize the Arroyo regime,\" Echanis said.

As a member of the negotiating panel of the National Democratic Front, Echanis said he was also covered by the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees between the Philippine government and NDF, which provides peace process negotiators immunity from arrest.

Meanwhile, Echanis' son, Ranmill, expressed hopes that their silent protest would help speed up his father's case.

In a statement, KMP spokesperson Antonio Flores said, \"The Arroyo government cannot fool us … Ka Randy's case is part of its counterinsurgency program Oplan Bantay Laya 2, where extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, and arrest-and-detention are its main ingredients.\"

Axel Pinpin, one of five peasant activists previously detained in a jail in Tagaytay City, also joined in the protest fast. He said the Arroyo administration was resorting to an \"arrest-and-detain approach to cripple legitimate peasant organizations.\" Hundreds of extrajudicial killings have also been recorded.

\"They are accusing activists of common crimes so as to hamper their organizing work.\"

For more information contact Pesante at (213)241-0995 or email at magsasakapil@hotmail.com<\/a><\/p>\n","contact":"magsasakapil@hotmail.com","link":"","address":"337 Glendale Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90026","phone":"213-241-0906","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","summary":"Filipino Peasant advoccy group based in LA, Pesante-USA fully and militantly support peasant leader Randall Echanis who is holding a protest fast inside the Manila City Jail on Wednesday to mark the first year of what he said was his "very unjust" detention. \r\n\r\n"Pesante-USA is one and in solidarity with all activist organizations, relatives and sympathizers who also went on a fast and camped out in front of the Supreme Court along Padre Faura Street in Manila to call for the release of 60-year-old Echanis and denounce the Arroyo administration's "fascist stance" against activists." said, Arturo P. Garcia Pesante-USA coordinator \r\n\r\n","numcomment":0,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/2009\/01\/totingaugust2007040.jpg3tttlw.jpg","filesize":"137.0 kibibytes","article_url":"\/news\/2009\/01\/224271.php","image":{"original":"\/uploads\/2009\/01\/totingaugust2007040.jpg3tttlw.jpg","small":"\/uploads\/2009\/01\/totingaugust2007040.jpg3tttlw.jpgthumb.jpg","medium":"\/uploads\/2009\/01\/totingaugust2007040.jpg3tttlw.jpgmid.jpg"}},"attachments":[],"comments":[]}