BY GLENDA TAYONA AND ADRIAN STEWART CO
ILOILO City — Negros-based activist and former political prisoner Zara Alvarez was gunned down last night in Barangay Mandalagan, Bacolod City.
According to Karapatan secretary-general Cristina Palabay, the victim was the group’s former education director and a paralegal staff member in Negros Island.
The killing of Alvarez came while Karapatan and other progressive groups were still mourning the death of Randall “Randy” Echanis, the National Democratic Front of the Philippines peace consultant , on Aug. 10.
“We are in deep grief and indignation. Today, we laid to rest Ka Randy Echanis, one of those who helped establish Karapatan, a staunch peace-builder and land rights defender. Tonight, we learned of the sad news that our former campaign and education director and paralegal in Negros, Zara Alvarez, was killed in Bacolod City,” Palabay said in a Facebook post.
“Zara, 39, was imprisoned for nearly two years and after her release, she continued to work as Karapatan’s paralegal and as research and advocacy officer of the Negros Island Health Integrated Program,” she added.
Nonoy Espina of the National Union of Journalists in the Philippines condemned the killing of Alvarez as he pushed for the junking of the controversial Anti-Terrorism Law.
“What threat could a petite woman like Zara Alvarez pose to warrant her execution in a rain-drenched street? Ah yes, ideals like human rights and justice and equality, which she bravely espoused, are truly deadly threats to any oppressive system of governance. But as they say, you may kill the person, but ideas and ideals live on. REST IN POWER!” Espina wrote on his Facebook.
Alvarez was among the frequently red-tagged activists in Negros Island.
In 2018, her name and photo appeared in posters in the streets of Negros as one of the alleged ranking officials of the Communist Party of Philippines.
Alvarez was arrested in 2012 and was released on bail in 2014. The charge against her was recently dismissed./PN
