Altermidya
By SHERWIN DE VERA
Northern Dispatch
BAGUIO CITY — The number of organizations expressing outrage and condemnation over the reported abduction of two environmental activists in Pangasinan continues to grow.
In a March 24 statement, Karapatan Central Luzon reported that unknown assailants mauled and dragged Pangasinan People’s Strike for the Environment convenors Francisco “Eco” Dangla III and Axielle “Jak” Tiong into an SUV around 8:00 pm in Barangay Polo, San Carlos City.
The two are active campaigners against coal-fired power plants and offshore mining in the province.
An online petition to surface the two described them as “staunch advocates of upholding environmental and human rights.”
“We call for the immediate release of Eco and Jak and all victims of enforced disappearances. Additionally, we call for an end to the attacks and for accountability for the continuing assaults on environmental defenders,” said the petition, signed by more than 80 groups and individuals from the Philippines and abroad as of March 26.
Dangla and Tiong are the 22nd and 23rd case of enforced disappearance under the presidency of Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
Earlier, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) andEcowaste Coalition urged the government to locate the two missing activists and ensure their safety immediately.
“We hold the government accountable for any harm done to Eco and Axielle. We demand that the two activists be safely returned to their families and kasamas (comrades),” BAYAN stated.
Dangla is the spokesperson for Bayan Pangasinan and the provincial coordinator for Makabayang Koalisyon ng Mamamayan, a political party composed of progressive party-lists.
Meanwhile, Ecowaste called out the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict “to stop the persecution of activists by putting an end to red tagging.”
Before their abduction, Dangla and Tiong were victims of red-tagging, the practice of linking activists to communist rebels.
Dangla’s name appeared on the list of alleged “Threats in Region 1” presented by the 7th Infantry Division during one of the meetings of the Ilocos Regional Peace and Order Council in 2019. He also received a death threat in December 2020.
Dangerous Place
Anti-mining group Alyansa Tigil Mina said violence targeting environmental defenders is unacceptable, as this is a fundamental right that should be safeguarded.
“We are aghast that another case involving environmental activists has occurred. For the past ten years, the Philippines has been documented as the most dangerous country in Asia for environmental human rights defenders,” the group said.
nvironmental activists Jhed Tamano and Jonila Castro were also abducted in Bataan province. In a press conference, Philippine authorities later tried to present them as surrendered rebels. However, their accounts of being forcibly taken by state agents thwarted these efforts.
Global Witness ranked the Philippines as the fifth most dangerous country in the world for environmental defenders in its September 2023 report. The watchdog documented 16 killings in Asia in 2022, 11 were in the Philippines. # nordis.net/Photo courtesy of Kabataan Party-list
