Community kitchens honor slain Iloilo activist

ILOILO CITY—Community kitchens will serve free meals in several villages around the country on Friday as the family and friends of activist Jose Reynaldo “Jory” Porquia mark the first anniversary of his killing.

The project pays tribute to Porquia, coordinator of the party list group Bayan Muna in Iloilo City, who was leading efforts by several groups in providing free meals for residents worst affected by quarantine restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic last year.

A Mass in Iloilo City will precede a caravan and wreath-laying at the site where Porquia was shot and killed by unidentified gunmen.

“It has been a year yet our family has not achieved justice. It’s been a year yet we have not been able to come home and give him our final goodbye,” Porquia’s younger sister Liza, who is based in Singapore, said in a message posted on Facebook.

On April 30 last year, Porquia was attacked in his rented hut at Barangay Sto. Niño Norte in Arevalo District here. He died from nine bullet wounds, including one at the back of his head. No arrest had been made and no suspect had been charged a year after his killing.

Porquia, a youth leader during the Marcos dictatorship, had been Red-tagged before he was killed, according to his family.

Appeal

Liza said their family was finding comfort that many organizations and individuals continued to support her brother’s advocacies, especially in standing up for the poor.

Porquia’s son, Lean, on Monday submitted a written appeal to Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra to include his father’s case in those being investigated by the interagency task force on extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and other human rights violations.

“No law enforcement or investigating body has contacted us or gave us any update on my father’s killing,” Lean told the Inquirer in a telephone interview.