Today, BAYAN USA remembers Randall Echanis, 1 year after being murdered in his home in Quezon City on August 10th, 2020. Ka Randy was undergoing medical treatment and was unarmed when police raided his home. An independent autopsy had shown that the 72 year old was made to suffer with 40 stab wounds on his body among other signs of torture. Ka Randy was the former Anakpawis chair, deputy secretary of Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP), and National Democractic Front of Philippines (NDFP) peace consultant, as well as an original drafter of the Comprehensive Agreement for Socio-Economic Reforms (CASER).
Since coming into office, President Rodrigo Duterte has led a rampage of extrajudicial killings and illegal arrests across the Philippines. August is considered to be one of the bloodiest months under Duterte. In 2017, 17-year old Kian delos Santos was shot execution-style by the police conducting anti-drugs operations on August 16th. Two days later, the missing bodies of 19-year-old Carl Arnaiz and 14-year-old Reynaldo De Guzman were found after accounts of being harassed by the police as suspected drug users. In 2020, 39 year old Karapatan paralegal Zara Alvarez outside of her home in Bacolod by state elements on August 17. **
Under the Anti-Terror Law, there has been an escalation of systematic extrajudicial killings, illegal arrests, mass leaders designated as terrorists, journalists and activists reporting death threats and intimidation, and terror-tagging of progressives. Ka Randy’s own daughter, Amanda Echanis, was arrested on trumped up charges in December 2020 with her newborn baby. However, even with the constant brutal attacks and impunity, the Filipino people have gained more courage and resolve to end the US-Duterte Regime.
Even though Ka Randy is no longer with us, let us follow how he lived his life: serving the people, advocating for the rights of peasants, and fighting against the tyranny of the feudal landlords and bureaucrat capitalists. Let us use our rage towards the murder of Ka Randy along with the countless others killed to continue to build the Duterte Wakasan Na Movement to expel him and all his cronies from office. Let us honor Ka Randy’s life by continuing to advance the struggle against the root causes of poverty, for genuine agrarian reform and national industrialization, and towards National Democracy in the Philippines!
Justice for Echanis! Justice for All!
Stop the Killings!
Junk the Terror Law!
Oust Duterte Now!
** Join Karapatan and Stop the Killings PH for a Week of Action August 9th – 17th.