STREET OUTRAGE Groups of farmers rally in front of the military headquarters at Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City, last month to condemn the massacre of nine farmers in Sagay City. 鈥擩AM STA. ROSA
ILOILO CITY 鈥� An official of a human rights group in Negros Occidental received threats through text messages just days after human rights lawyer Benjamin Ramos Jr. was gunned down by still unidentified assailants in Kabankalan City.
Clarizza Singson, national council member and Negros Occidental secretary general of human rights group Karapatan, received three text messages on Friday night, saying she and two other activists 鈥渨ill be next.鈥�
The messages were sent at 9:37 p.m. from mobile phone number 0910-4431029.
One of the messages, written in Ilonggo, read: 鈥淒o not twist the issue. You are the troublemakers in Negros. You are high profile leaders of New People鈥檚 Army. You, Roque, Nilo and Christian will be next.鈥�
鈥業t鈥檚 near鈥�
The message apparently referred to Roque Rillo, of National Federation of Sugar Workers, Noli Rosales, of the labor group Kilusang Mayo Uno and Christian Tuayon of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan in Negros, according to Singson.
One of the messages was an apparent warning to Singson and the others that they would be killed next.
鈥淲e will eliminate all troublemakers. Just continue what you are doing because it鈥檚 near,鈥� read another message, still in Ilonggo.
Singson, also the provincial chair of the women鈥檚 group Gabriela, said it was the first time she received death threats through text messages but that she and her group had been regularly vilified by police and military officials.
Pictures of Singson and Ramos, along with suspected members of the New People鈥檚 Army, were among those printed in flyers and tarpaulin streamers with communist 鈥減ersonalities鈥� displayed in areas in Negros Occidental.
鈥楴ong Ben鈥�
The military had denied allegations of militant organizations that it was behind the streamers.
鈥淲e take the threats seriously because Nong Ben (Ramos) is dead,鈥� Singson said in a phone interview.
鈥淭hese are clearly aimed at paralyzing our organization and driving us to hide in fear,鈥� Singson told the Inquirer in a phone interview.
鈥淲e are taking precautionary measures but we will not stop exposing human rights violations and seeking justice,鈥� she said.
Ramos, 56, was killed after he was repeatedly shot in front of a convenience store at Barangay 5 in Kabankalan City on Nov. 6.
He was one of the founders of nongovernment organization Paghida-et sa Kauswagan Development Group (PDG) and was also founding member of the National Union of People鈥檚 Lawyers.
On Saturday, the remains of Ramos were brought to the PDG compound after an autopsy conducted by the Commission on Human Rights. Ramos and his family stayed inside the compound.
Singson said Ramos鈥� remains would be brought to his hometown in Sipalay City on Nov. 14.
Wake will be held at his ancestral house until his burial on Nov. 18 in Sipalay.