Militant coalition to hold human rights day rally on Dec. 10 amid priest’s killing

Statue of Andres Bonifacio at the Bonifacio Shrine in Lawton, Manila. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

A militant anti-tyranny coalition is set to stage its human rights day rally on Sunday, Dec. 10 in the wake of the killing of an activist priest and a pastor.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Movement Against Tyranny (MAT) said its Sunday protest would be held from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. at the Bonifacio Shrine beside the Manila City Hall.

“We will mark International Human Rights Day on December 10 with a heightened sense of urgency given the killings of known human rights activists Catholic priest Fr. Marcelito Paez in Nueva Ecija last Monday and Elisa Badayos in Negros Oriental last Nov. 28. Also killed was Born-Again pastor Lovelito Quiñones in Occidental Mindoro last Dec. 3,” the Movement said.

MAT added that with President Rodrigo Duterte’s proclamation of the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New Peoples’ Army as terrorist groups, as well as the return of the Philippine National Police to the conduct of the war on drugs, “more killings and human rights violations are expected.”

“Today, Duterte is back to his tyrannical ways and is paving the way for one-man rule through his convoluted idea of a ‘revolutionary government.’ In this light, it has become necessary again to publicly show our unity against the looming threat of a violent, fascist dictatorship,” the group stressed.

MAT is composed of various human rights advocates, civil libertarians and concerned citizens calling for an end to the alleged extrajudicial killings and other acts of tyranny under the Duterte administration.