BAGONG Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) Panay strongly denounces the baseless and malicious claims made in recent reports tagging the Paghugpong sang mga Mangunguma sa Panay kag Guimaras (PAMANGGAS) as a “rebel group” and falsely portraying its chairperson, Nay Lucia Capaducio, as a “fugitive.”
In a Facebook post by GMA Super Radyo Iloilo on September 15, they quoted Colonel Erwin Lamzon, chief of the Public Affairs Office of the 3rd Infantry Division, Philippine Army, claiming that PAMANGGAS is a “rebel group” and that Nay Lucia, as its chairperson, is “at large.” Despite BAYAN Panay’s request on the same day to take down or correct the malicious post, it remains online unedited and continues to spread falsehoods.
BAYAN Panay has obtained a portion of the recorded audio where Lamzon described PAMANGGAS as a “sectoral front organization operating in the urban center” and maliciously alleged that Nay Lucia and her husband made their daughter join the NPA, supposedly to gain “ascension or promotion to being a ‘Partido.’”
The audio further revealed Lamzon’s admission that no case has been filed against Nay Lucia and her husband, yet he still insisted that they are “at large.”
These statements are outright falsehoods. PAMANGGAS is a legitimate and legal farmers’ federation advancing the rights and welfare of peasants across Panay and Guimaras. For decades, it has waged campaigns for land, livelihood, and social justice, consistently exercising its democratic right to protest and engage the government on agrarian and rural issues. Branding PAMANGGAS as a rebel organization is a desperate attempt to criminalize legitimate dissent and discredit peasant struggles.
We categorically state that Nay Lucia Capaducio is not “at large” or a fugitive. She is a respected peasant leader who has long been at the forefront of defending farmers’ rights in the face of landlessness, displacement, and militarization in the countryside. The continued vilification of Nay Lucia is part of the military’s broader pattern of red-tagging and harassment against activists—acts that endanger lives and undermine basic freedoms.
We condemn the 3rd Infantry Division for outright red-tagging and for endangering the safety and security of Nay Lucia and her husband. Lamzon’s own admission that no case has been filed confirms how the military weaponizes trumped-up charges against activists and human rights defenders.
We call on media practitioners to exercise diligence and fairness, and not serve as mere mouthpieces of the military. Repeating unverified allegations without evidence contributes to the climate of impunity that has already claimed many lives of farmers and Tumandok communities in Panay.
BAYAN Panay stands firmly with PAMANGGAS, Nay Lucia Capaducio, and all peasant leaders who continue to struggle for genuine land reform and social justice. We call on the public to see through the AFP’s lies and defend our democratic rights against militarization and state repression. — ELMER FORRO, secretary general, BAYAN Panay
