CCJP calls for immediate release of Ka Randy

A Press Statement by Concerned Citizens For Justice And Peace (CCJP) Metro Tacloban
February 4, 2008

The Concerned Citizens for Justice and Peace (CCJP) condemns the arrest of Randall "Ka Randy" Echanis, deputy secretary general of Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas and who is currently detained at Leyte Provincial Jail charged with multiple murders.

The arrest and detention of Echanis is analogous to the made-up crimes charged on Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo who is accused as the mastermind of the alleged mass graves discovered in Leyte and has been charged of rebellion case, which has long been junked by the Supreme Court. The multiple murder case indicted on Echanis does not however coincide with the circumstances since during the time the alleged murders were perpetrated, Echanis is spending time in prison on charges of rebellion.

CCJP views this as another desperate attempt of the Arroyo regime and her mercenary executor, the Armed Forces of the Philippines to further curtail the legal national democratic movement in its advancement of the people's rights and interests. The continuing assaults on legal mass organizations effortlessly unmask the terror of Arroyo's anti-insurgency campaign, Oplan Bantay Laya 2, that in the surface of peace and socio-economic reforms apparently targets the members of progressive organizations and resulted to incremental cases of human rights violations.

CCJP supports the Free Ka Randy Movement and demands his immediate release. We further call for the Filipino people to continue the struggle in advancing our civil liberties and defending our basic human rights.

CCJP Metro Tacloban is a national democratic mass organization advocating class-based human rights and the promotion of justice and peace. CCJP is a base organization of Katungod-SB-Karapatan.