One month after the Bloody Sunday raids throughout Southern Tagalog last March 7, the mothers of slain fisherfolk leaders Ariel Evangelista and Anna Mariz “Chai” Lemita-Evangelista pressed Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, the House of Representatives and the Senate to conduct an independent investigation into the killing of the couple as well as the other victims in the police and military raids which led to the killings of nine activists and the arrests of at least four others.
One month after the Bloody Sunday raids throughout Southern Tagalog last March 7, the mothers of slain fisherfolk leaders Ariel Evangelista and Anna Mariz “Chai” Lemita-Evangelista pressed Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, the House of Representatives and the Senate to conduct an independent investigation into the killing of the couple as well as the other victims in the police and military raids which led to the killings of nine activists and the arrests of at least four others.
“Nakatitiyak kami kung sino ang nasa likod ng pamamaslang na ito ay dapat na panagutin. Ngunit dahil kami ay mga ordinaryong mamamayan lamang, bukod pa sa katotohanang tinutugis ang mga aktibista at mga kritiko ng gobyerno, alam naming hindi kami pakikinggan kung kami lamang ang titindig para hanapin ang hustisya sa ating lipunan. Kumakatok kami sa inyo ngayon para sa independyente at makatotohanang imbestigasyon tungo sa pagkamit ng hustisya,” Imelda Evangelista and Rosenda Lemita urged in letters sent to Secretary Guevarra, House Speaker Lord Allan Velasco, and Senate President Vicente Sotto III today.
Ariel Evangelista, 25, and Anna Mariz Lemita-Evangelista, 30, were staff members of the Ugnayan ng Mamamayan Laban sa Pagwawasak ng Kalikasan at Kalupaan, a community organization monitoring the impacts of eco-tourism projects in Batangas. They were sleeping with their 10-year-old son “Nonong” in their seaside hut in Brgy. Calayo, Nasugbu, Batangas when the police forcibly entered it at around 4 a.m. to serve a search warrant issued by Presiding Judge Jason Zapanta of the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 174 to supposedly seize two hand grenades from the couple.
Their neighbors proceeded to hear gunshots and screams for mercy from the hut before the couple were taken away. As the police left, their neighbors and relatives went to the hut and found “Nonong,” who witnessed the raid, hiding under the bed. Rosenda Lemita proceeded to look for the couple in hospitals and funerals until she found their dead bodies in John Paul Funeral Home in Nasugbu, Batangas later that afternoon.
The police claimed that the couple resisted arrest which led to their killing during the raid. Imelda Evangelista and Rosenda Lemita, however, asserted in their letters that “[s]a lahat ng mga kasong pinaslang ang kanilang target, idinadahilan ng mga pulis na nanlaban ang mga ito. Ngunit pinaninindigan naming hindi sila nanlaban at wala silang kapasidad na magmay-ari ng mga baril, bala, at pampapasabog na sinasabi ng mga pulis na nakita nila sa kanilang bahay.”
“Bago pa man mangyari ang pamamaslang at pag-aresto noong Marso 7, may ilang serye na ng harasment sa aming mga anak dulot ng pagiging kasapi ng mga progresibong organisasyon kaming naitala hinggil sa panghaharas sa kanila. Ang mga ito ay bahagi ng isang higit na mas malaking suliranin hinggil sa pulitikal na persekusyon sa mga aktibista at kritiko ng gobyerno,” they further stated.
In the letter to Guevarra, the two mothers also said that “[n]ais naming ipahayag ang aming pagnanais na makipagdiyalogo at makipagpulong sa inyo hinggil sa imbestigasyon sa nangyari sa aming mga anak noong Marso 7. Kaming mga pamilya ay bukas na makipag-usap sa inyong tanggapan para sa interes ng hustisya sa karumal-dumal na pamamaslang sa aming mga anak.”
“Mula sa mga dahilang ito at sa iba pang nagsasanga mula rito, handa kaming gawin ang mga kinakailangang hakbang, gaano man kahirap, upang mabigyang katarungan ang pagpaslang sa kanila. Hindi lamang ito dahil sa patuloy naming pagmamahal sa kanila, kundi pati na rin sa mga paniniwalang pinanghawakan nila na naging sanhi ng kanilang pagkawala: disente at may dangal na buhay para sa lahat ng mamamayan,” they ended.