Bayan Muna in Southern Tagalog reported that one of its campaigners had been missing since April 26, believed to have been abducted by government soldiers.
In an alert, the progressive party said Pauline Joy Banjawan may have been abducted in Sto. Tomas, Batangas which had been crawling with soldiers in full battle gear last Saturday.
The victim is an urban poor organizer who is campaigning for Bayan Muna in Batangas Province’s third district for the May 12 mid-term elections, the alert said.
Banjawan’s fellow campaigners also reported that Banjawan informed them she was being tailed by “suspicious looking men” last Saturday.
Bayan Muna-Southern Tagalog said paralegals and relatives of the victim went to Camp Macario Sakay, Los Baños, Laguna to inquire about her whereabouts but officers who refused to be identified denied she was in their custody.
“Bayan Muna-Southern Tagalog condemns (President Ferdinand) Marcos Jr. for his government’s intensifying attacks against progressive organizations even during the election season,” the group said.
Former Bayan Muna Rep. Ferdinand Gaite and youth group Anakbayan demanded the surfacing of Banjawan.
Anakbayan said that Banjawan’s disappearance also coincided with the proliferation of red-tagging posters against Makabayan Coalition parties and campaigners throughout the country. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
