BACOLOD CITY: Negros Island-based leaders of human rights group Karapatan on Thursday said they received death threats recently.

In a Facebook post, the group reported its public information desk received on Monday a text message, which listed names of some militants, believed to be the “next target” of a “kill kill kill” program.

The text message was received a day after multiple raids by authorities in Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) resulted in the killing of nine activists and arrest of six others.

Karapatan identified those on the “next target” list as Iver Lavit of Kadamay Negros; John “Butch” Lozande, secretary-general of National Federation of Sugar Workers (NFSW); Ereneo Longinos, spokesman for Bayan Negros; Clarissa Singson, secretary-general of Karapatan Negros; Christian Tuayon of the NFSW; Felipe Gelle of the September 21 Movement and Rolando Rillo, also of the NFSW.

Karapatan did not identify a certain “Alyas Tatay Ogie” and “Berting” who were also included in the list.

In a separate text message received also on Monday, the unidentified sender also threatened Bayan Negros media liaison Julius Dagatan, husband of Clarissa Singson who was among those included in the first text message.

In the message, the sender said Negros was “next.”

Karapatan said the sender was referring to the multiple Calabarzon killings last Sunday, March 7.

“Oh ano takot na kayo noh? Susunod namin Negros. Humanda na asawa ni Clarissa na si Jules! Matataymingan din yan,” the message read.

In a statement, Karapatan-Negros said: “The horrible crackdown in Southern Tagalog was patterned in the ‘Tokhang-nanlaban’ style that was first executed here in Negros through Oplan Sauron that resulted in the death of six during Synchronized Enhanced Managing of Police Operations (SEMPO) and the arrest of more than 100 farmers and activists.”

“These brazen attacks and intimidation against human rights defenders is a clear manifestation of how cowardly Duterte’s government is. His desperate tyrannical approach to sow fear among the people failed tremendously, he proved that he cannot silence the struggling people, and he is now trembling in fear because of the continued growing resistance of the Filipino people,” the group said.

“After the series of mass murders led by State forces, the whole island still suffers from relentless fascist attacks. W ith these recent incidents of threats directed against our fellow human rights defenders, it is imperative that we push and fight back against this reign of tyranny.”