By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
Bulatlat.com
MANILA – A workers’ rights group assailed the continuing injustice over the killing of a veteran labor organizer a year ago.
Veteran labor organizer 67, was killed on Sept. 29, 2023, following what the police described as a firefight while they were serving a search warrant.
“In truth, the arrest warrant did not contain Fernandez’ name and Fernandez has never carried a gun in fulfilling his organizing work – whether in Central Luzon, Southern Tagalog, or Metro Manila and its environs,” said the Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (CTUHR) in a statement.
Read: Labor organizer killed in Rizal province
On Monday, Kilusang Mayo Uno held a protest action in front of Camp Crame in Quezon City to mark the first year of the extrajudicial killing of Fernandez.
“Like most victims of extrajudicial killings, the police used the story line that he resisted arrest and was killed. But our initial findings reveal that he was killed on purpose. He was considered as ‘enemy of the state’ under the Marcos Jr. administration,” said Jerome Adonis, secretary general of KMU, during the protest action.
The Philippine government, through executive secretary Lucas Bersamin, vowed to pursue a “thorough and impartial investigation,” following the veteran unionist’s killing. However, CTUHR said that his murder “remains unsolved to this day.”
The group said former Criminal Investigation and Detection Group chief, Major General Romeo Caramat Jr., and former police chief General Benjamin C. Acorda Jr. should be investigated for Fernandez’s murder.
“Not only was Fernandez murdered by police forces, his remains were also denied to his family, friends and colleagues in the labor movement for days. This only supports the analysis that Fernandez, a labor organizer who belonged to the elderly and was needing medical attention, was targeted for murder and persecution,” the group said.
The killings and attacks that unionists and labor organizers face were among those brought before the International Labor Organization’s High-Level Tripartite Mission (HLTM) in the Philippines early in 2023.
Among its recommendations include a call for the Philippine government to investigate the killings and the violations of workers’ rights, and to ensure that they do not become targets of its counter-insurgency program.
“Marcos Jr should make unequivocal statements and take decisive action so that the murderers of labor activists are held accountable, and that the murders of labor activists are stopped once and for all. So far, his statements of commitment to labor and human rights have not been translated into an enabling environment for labor organizing,” the group said.
The CTUHR called on the public to continue to press for accountability over the extrajudicial killing of Fernandez.
“This crime, after all, is not just to a person, a family, a group of friends, or even the labor movement; it is a crime against the Filipino workers and people,” the group said. (RTS) 
