Progressive groups in Davao City commemorated Araw ng Kagitingan (Day of Valor) with a protest rally demanding the immediate surfacing of veteran labor organizer William Lariosa. Affiliated with the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) in Southern Mindanao, the 63-year-old Lariosa was reportedly abducted on April 10 last year in Barangay Butong, Quezon, Bukidnon, by suspected military agents. A day before the first anniversary of his alleged abduction, groups including Bayan Muna Southern Mindanao, Anakbayan Southern Mindanao Region, KMU Southern Mindanao Region, Kabataan, Gabriela Youth, and Gabriela Women’s Party held a nearly hour-long protest at Freedom Park. Rauf Sisay, Bayan Muna Southern Mindanao coordinator, called Lariosa a modern hero, likening his struggle to that of World War II veterans fighting for democracy. Sisay criticized President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s “reactive” leadership, holding his “fascist administration” accountable for Lariosa’s disappearance, accusing it of silencing activists advocating for land, wages, jobs, and national democracy. He also implicated former President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration for funding the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), which he claimed hinders organizing efforts among the underprivileged. Sisay revealed that Lariosa and his family faced threats and harassment before his abduction, allegedly by the state, forcing them to relocate to Bukidnon. Armed individuals, suspected to be from the Philippine Army’s 48th Infantry Battalion, reportedly took Lariosa at gunpoint. A network advocating for his surfacing was recently established to address enforced disappearances in the Philippines. Lariosa remains missing, and protesters called for an end to corruption, anti-people economic policies, and demanded higher wages and more jobs for the poor. (Ian Carl Espinosa / MindaNews)
