Tribute paid to slain NDFP consultant

RALLY FOR RIGHTS Activists march on Mendiola, near Malacañang Palace, on Dec. 10 to denounce the killings of militant organizers and their tagging as communist rebels. —INQUIRER PHOTO

ILOILO CITY — Friends, former schoolmates and colleagues of Randy Felix Malayao on Wednesday gave tribute to the slain peace consultant of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), calling him a tireless seeker of justice.

“His sense of justice was unwavering and so was his compassion,” said University of the Philippines Visayas (UPV) professor Mary Barby Badayos-Jover, a friend.

“He was a calming presence who encouraged me to go beyond my comfort zone,” she said.

Malayao, a fisheries graduate of UPV in Miagao, Iloilo province, and former editor in chief of Ang Mangingisda, student publication of the UPV College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, was shot dead while asleep on a bus in Aritao town in Nueva Vizcaya province.

Popular student

He was a consultant of the NDFP in peace talks with the government and vice president of the Makabayan coalition.

Malayao was a popular student leader at UPV and was vice president for Visayas of the College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP). He was also a founding member of the school chapters of the UP Beta Sigma Fraternity and League of Filipino Students.

Friends and former campus journalists remembered Malayao as the well-dressed, tall and lanky student leader who spoke passionately.

“He was always wearing polo shirts, brown slacks and leather shoes and was ready to jump into any discussion of any topic,” a former campus journalist said.

They recalled Malayao as the CEGP organizer who helped restore or activate student publications in the Visayas.

Impunity

He also led journalism training programs, discussions on social issues and helped in the production of student publications, often spending nights in editing and laying out issues.

The UPV Beta Sigma Fraternity condemned the attack and demanded justice.

“The butchers ended the life of a person who aspired for nothing but peace and genuine development in our country,” the fraternity said in a statement.

“We mourn Brod Randy’s death under the hands of cowardly criminal butchers. But let us not allow fear to conquer us amid the darkness,” the fraternity added.

The UP Fisheries Guild and UPV College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences Student Council also condemned Malayao’s killing.