PRESS STATEMENT (Contact: soc banzuela,434 2079)
PAKISAMA Statement Condemning the Assassination of Another PAKISAMA Leader, Florita “Nang Flor” Caya
The Pambansang Kilusan ng mga Samahang Magsasaka (PAKISAMA) condemns in strongest possible terms the April 27 dastardly assassination of Florita “Nang Flor” Caya (58), General Manager of a local indigenous peoples’ organization (UTCEL) and Vice-President of a national rural peasant women organization (LAKAMBINI) affiliated to PAKISAMA Confederation. According to police autopsy/investigation, at 7 PM of April 27, 2011, while tending her store at the poblacion of Monkayo, Compostela Valley, Florita “Nang Flor” Caya (58) was shot at the back of her head. Her face just below the right eye was blown away. Witnesses saw a man hurriedly walking away from the store and quickly riding at the back of a motorcycle driven by another man.
Nang Flor was a newly-elected general manager of Unified Tribal Council of Elders and Leaders (UTCEL), a group of indigenous peoples (Mandaya, Manobo, Mangguangan & Dibabawon) awarded in 2004 by the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) a Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title covering 30,468 hectares in 14 barangays of Monkayo, Compostela Valley.
“This is too much! Why Nang Flor!” exclaimed Vicente Fabe, Chairperson of PAKISAMA, a national peasant confederation with presence in 42 provinces in the country. Nang Flor is the third national leader of PAKISAMA, all hailing from Mindanao, gunned down by assassins in a span of two and a half years. Vicente Paglinawan (November 22, 2008) from Davao City and Renato Penas (July 5, 2009) from Sumilao, Bukidnon were assassinated in their respective villages at the height of a campaign for the passage of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program Extension with Reforms (CARPER) law. Until now, their killers have not been brought to justice.
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