We Remember Ka Lando and Ka Leonor

Today is the 24th anniversary of the abduction of Kilusang Mayo Uno chairperson Atty. Rolando “Ka Lando” Olalia and labor organizer Leonardo “Ka Leonor” Alay-ay. In November 13, 1986, just a few months into the regime of Corazon “Cory” Aquino, Olalia and Alay-ay were disappeared. They were found the following day in Antipolo, Rizal, both hogtied with their mouths stuffed with newspapers. Both their bodies bore bruises and stab wounds all over, as well as fatal gunshot wounds in the head.

A few days before their abduction and killing, Ka Lando warned that KMU will launch a general strike if coup attempts were made by elements of the military against the newly-installed Cory Aquino regime. After such coup attempts were mounted and after the right-wing “God Save the Queen” destabilization plot was uncovered, it became a widely-held belief that those who wanted to murder the incipient Aquino regime are the same people who are behind the brutal murder of Ka Lando and Ka Leonor.

In January 1988, an intelligence agent who worked under Juan Ponce Enrile – then-Defense secretary, now-senator, and widely-recognized “godfather” of coup plotters – came forward as a witness. He linked the Rebolusyunaryong Alyansang Makabansa, a group of military officers, to the murder of Ka Lando and Ka Leonor. In his affidavit, he named the following: Eduardo “Red” Kapunan, Oscar “Tito” Legaspi, Ricardo Dicon, Elpidio Layson, and Noe Wong. A journalist, Cecilio Arillo, was also charged.

Ka Lando and Ka Leonor, as well as other activists, were killed by right-wing elements of the military who wanted to bring down the Cory Aquino regime – which was, at the time, honoring its commitments to the anti-dictatorship united front which brought it to power. While their coup attempts failed, these elements successfully pushed the Aquino regime farther to the right. It will not take long before the Cory Aquino regime will, with its counter-insurgency programs, on its own abduct and kill Filipino activists.

Today we commemorate the 24th anniversary of Ka Lando and Ka Leonor’s abduction and murder a few months into another Aquino regime. Like its precedent, the new Aquino regime replaced a US-backed regime that is well-known internationally and extremely detested locally for its grave human rights violations. Like its precedent, the new Aquino regime is bearing witness to the deaths of activists in its first months. Unlike its precedent, however, it is not facing any right-wing destabilization plot.

Yesterday, Caloy Rodriguez, a public union leader, was shot dead in Calamba, Laguna by motorcycle-riding gunmen. He is the 22nd victim of extra-judicial killings in the country since Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III took his oath as president. Noynoy Aquino said that carrying out extra-judicial killings is not his government’s policy, but his military’s actions speak louder than his words; his military’s gunshots speak louder than his all-too soft denial. The masterminds behind these deaths remain at large.

Noynoy Aquino continues to implement Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s fascist policies. He adopted the murderous Oplan Bantay Laya counter-insurgency program, which is widely seen as responsible for the spate of extra-judicial killings in the country. His policy pronouncements adhere closely to the US Counter-insurgency Guide released by the US State Department. He is not showing any signs of seriousness in prosecuting and jailing Arroyo and her fascist henchmen for their grave human-rights violations.

Today, as we pay tribute to the heroism and martyrdom of Ka Lando and Ka Leonor, we vow to carry on with the fight for the rights and interests of the workers and peoples of the Philippines and the world. We vow to carry on with the fight for national freedom and democracy. We vow to expose and oppose this Aquino regime’s anti-worker and anti-people policies and to frustrate its fascist campaign of repression against the Filipino workers and people. We vow to fight on, to prevail, and to succeed.

We know that the government that implements anti-worker and anti-people policies is the same government that will not allow the Filipino workers and people to fight and rebel against such anti-worker and anti-people policies. We know that a government that promises change but is presiding over nothing but continuity with its predecessor will earn the ire of the Filipino workers and people. We will struggle on for a government that will embody genuine change and will be pro-worker and pro-people.