With probe stalled for a year, Jory Porquia's son asks DOJ to look into his murder
MANILA, Philippines — Nearly a year since the murder of activist Jory Porquia, his son Lean is asking the Department of Justice to look into the brutal murder throught its special task force for extrajudicial, politically motivated killings.
Lean Porquia wrote to Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra to ask that his father’s case be included in Administrative Order 35 committee investigations.
The DOJ-led task force was created under AO 35 in 2012. The directive was issued to address allegations that state and non-state actors have been "silencing, through violence and intimidation, legitimate dissent and opposition raised by members of the civil society, cause-oriented groups, political movements, people’s and non-government organizations, and by ordinary citizens."
Lean said the Philippine National Police has not given them updates since the murder. “We are nowhere in this investigation,” he added.
He said that the AO 35 task force might make more progress in the case. "Such special powers are enjoyed by your office to expedite and compel state forces to answer allegations of extrajudicial killings. My father should be included in that order as a victim of this brutal and demonic act of murdering an innocent man."
Long-time activist killed during pandemic lockdown
Jory Porquia was killed on April 30, 2020, while Iloilo City was in a pandemic lockdown. The long-time activist was shot 14 times in his rented cottage at 5 a.m.
Lean told Guevarra in his letter that days before his father was assassinated, the local police “[had] made pronouncements over the radio that he is being placed under surveillance.”
Lean shared that his father survived Martial Law and the succeeding years of vilification and red-tagging, the practice of linking activists to communist rebels.
Jory Porquia also organized Madya-as Ecological Movement and was among Bayan Muna party-list’s coordinators. In 2016, he was appointed as a consultant to the National Anti-Poverty Commission for Region VI, Lean added.
"In his many years of activism, I am sure his track record speaks volume of social and political exposure against state agencies that led to the many time he was red-tagged by the military and the police," he added.
He urged Guevarra: "We haven’t heard anything from the PNP since he was killed. I want justice for my father, Mr. Secretary, the same way you would demand justice [if] your own father is killed."
AO 35 Committee and red-tagging
The AO 35 Committee is also looking into the killings of peace consultant Randall Echanis and Karapatan paralegal Zara Alvarez in 2020. It is also investigating the killings of nine activists in simultaneous police raids in Calabarzon provinces and the murder of labor leader Dandy Miguel in March.
In a separate statement, Rep. Carlos Zarate (Bayan Muna party-list) also urged the DOJ to exercise the full extent of the law to ensure that perpetrators of these killings are made accountable.
The lawmaker also noted that Lean reported that he has been subjected to red-tagging in social media posts and posters in Iloilo City.
RELATED: Kin of activists killed in Calabarzon raids meet with DOJ, express fear for their safety
“This red-tagging has erased the line between legal organizations and those considered by the government as underground or illegal. This is wrong in so many levels. Activists are civilians, they are not combatants and should not be subject to any counter-insurgency methods,” Zarate also said.
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