Philippines: extra judicial killing of a labor right defender
Event- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Sep 17, 2016
- Event Description
The Sentro ng Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa (SENTRO) strongly condemns the assassination of Orlando "Ka Lando" Abangan. SENTRO calls for a swift and thorough investigation of this cowardly act, and to arrest and prosecute the perpetrators and their masterminds. Ka Lando, 35 years old, was assassinated a few meters outside his home last 17th of September 2016 at around 7:00am. Witnesses said that a lone assassin waited for him, pumped seven bullets into his body, and drove away on a motorcycle. Initial investigations to the motivation of his killing points to Ka Lando's vocal criticism against the ongoing war on drugs and the extrajudicial killings (EJKs) in the community. Ka Lando has spent half his life organizing the downtrodden under the banner of Partido ng Manggagawa (PM). Recently, Ka Lando helped SENTRO organize a union in the power industry as well as the urban poor in Cebu. Ka Lando was also involved in helping organize an organization of persons with disabilities (PWDs) that advanced the rights of PWDs for social protection and social services. SENTRO also calls on the Duterte administration to stop the terrible wave of extra judicial killings that has plagued the country. The war of drugs has promoted a culture that is blind to human rights. Clearly, it is now taking its toll on human rights defenders. It has to stop immediately. SENTRO commiserates with the families and friends of Ka Lando. His long history of service and militancy in the face of impunity is admirable. His death, unfortunately, is another nail in the coffin against the struggle to uphold human rights.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Death
- Extrajudicial Killing
- Rights Concerned
- Labour rights
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Event Location
Latitude: 10.3156992
Longitude: 123.8854366
- Event Location
- Summary for Publications
On 17 September 2016, Ka Lando, human rights defender and long-time Partido ng Manggagawa (Workers Party) member and organizer, was assassinated by an unidentified gunman a few meters outside his home in Sitio Lawis, Barangay Maghaway, Talisay City, Cebu, Philippines.