Human rights activist gunned down in Bacolod

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines — A human rights activist was shot dead in this city on Monday.

Zarah Alvarez, 39, was walking along Sta. Maria street in Barangay Mandalagan on her way to her boarding house when an unidentified man shot her in the back, Maj. Richard Pajarito, Bacolod City police station 3 chief, said.

Witnesses said the gunman, who was wearing a face mask and a bull cap, finished off Alvarez with more shots as she lay sprawled on the ground.

The assailant fled on a waiting motorcycle.

Six bullet shells were recovered at the scene.

“Zara Alvarez was a fierce and dedicated human rights defender. Her death is a tremendous loss for all of us and those who worked with her in advancing and defending people’s rights. We strongly call for justice,” Karapatan secretary-general Cristina Palabay said in a statement.

Palabay said Alvarez was among the 600 personalities tagged as terrorists in a proscription case filed by the Department of Justice in 2018.

The victim reportedly received threats from the military even though her name had been stricken off the list.

Alvarez, who was jailed for about two years, was a paralegal for Karapatan and a research and advocacy officer of the Negros Island Health Integrated Program for Community Development.

Karapatan said Alvarez is the 13th human rights worker killed during the Duterte administration.

Last week, Anakpawis chairman and National Democratic Front peace consultant Randall Echanis was murdered in Quezon City.

Task force to be created

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said he would order the creation of a task force to look into the incident if there is an indication that Alvarez was a victim of extra-judicial killing.

“We may consider her case for special investigation under AO (Administrative Order) 35 after some fact-checking,” Guevarra said.

The AO covers the creation of an inter-agency committee to look into summary killings of persons on account of their advocacies, such as labor and peasant leaders.

The justice secretary heads the IAC, with the chairman of the Presidential Human Rights Committee, secretaries of the Departments of the Interior and Local Government and National Defense, presidential adviser for political affairs, chiefs of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and Philippine National Police as well as director of the National Bureau of Investigation as members.

Bishop Gerardo Alminaza of the San Carlos diocese in Negros Occidental slammed what he described as a ”never-ending injustice and violence” on the island.

Alminaza called on law enforcers to pursue justice and accountability for those responsible for the death of Alvarez and other victims of senseless killings. – Emmanuel Tupas, Evelyn Macairan, Rhodina Villanueva