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Groups press for surfacing of ‘missing’ labor leader
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 10 April) – Nothing has happened to the case of William Lariosa, a labor leader who went missing in Bukidnon two years ago, progressive groups that staged a rally on the occasion of Araw ng Kagitingan on Thursday at Freedom Park in Davao City said.
The groups demanded the immediate surfacing of Lariosa, who they believe was abducted by government forces.
Several human rights advocates, particularly the Surface William Lariosa Network, have already reached out to various government agencies and even courts to seek legal remedies to surface Lariosa, but to no avail, said Rauf Sissay, a secretariat member of the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan-Southern Mindanao Region.
“Pero karon, namuti na lang ang uwak, wala gihapon hingpit nga kausaban sa nahitabo sa kaso ni William Lariosa og sa uban pang biktima sa enforced disappearance (But now, even as the crow has turned white, nothing has changed in the case of William Lariosa and the other victims of enforced disappearance),” he said.
Sissay said Lariosa was helping ordinary workers exercise their right to organize in agricultural farms across the provinces of Davao de Oro, Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, and Bukidnon.
He believed the activist and labor organizer was a victim of enforced disappearance allegedly committed by members of the 48th Infantry Battalion, while assisting farm workers in Barangay Butong, Quezon, Bukidnon, on April 10, 2024.
Fauzhea Guiani, spokesperson for Anakbayan-Southern Mindanao Region, said that two years after the alleged abduction, the military and police have yet to provide answers for their “human rights violations.”
She said that given the ongoing crisis, it is only right to stand up for workers’ rights.
Sissay said the situation of activists, labor organizers, and ordinary workers in the country remains dismal under the Marcos administration.
He said Lariosa, along with other labor leaders, “organized and empowered thousands of workers to stand for living wages, to uphold their right to organize, to fight for regular and decent jobs, and to struggle for genuine democracy.”
He said the atmosphere has become more repressive for those who organize workers and the poor. (Antonio L. Colina IV/MindaNews)
