Groups decry killing of 2 farmer-activists 'caught' painting 'Duterte Ibagsak' graffiti

Jauhn Etienne Villaruel, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2021/news/07/27/albay-incident.jpg"/><figcaption>Two activists in Albay were gunned down by police early morning Monday when they allegedly fought back after being accosted vandalizing a bridge with an anti-Duterte slogan. Contributed photo</figcaption></figure></div>MANILA — Human rights groups on Tuesday condemned the police for killing of 2 activists in Albay who allegedly &quot;fought back&quot; after being caught vandalizing a bridge with a supposedly anti-administration graffiti.<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Yesterday, a few hours before President Rodrigo Duterte reiterated his “shoot-them-dead” orders in his State of the Nation Address, Jemar Palero and Marlon Naperi were gunned down by the police and military while painting protest graffiti in Albay. READ: <a href="https://t.co/vIBloWFlXy">https://t.co/vIBloWFlXy</a> <a href="https://t.co/G7NrsbwNEf">pic.twitter.com/G7NrsbwNEf</a>— Karapatan (@karapatan) <a href="https://twitter.com/karapatan/status/1419956980408533024?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 27, 2021</a></blockquote><div><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script></div>Karapatan identified the 2 activists as Jemar Palero, 22, member of Organisasyon ng mga Magsasaka sa Albay (OMA) and Marlon Naperi, 38, member of the Albay People’s Organization, an affiliate of Karapatan-Bicol.Bayan Bicol spokesperson Vince Casilihan also confirmed that the 2 are farmers from Guinobatan. Karapatan claimed the 2 men were unarmed when they were gunned down by cops patrolling the Banao bridge in Guinobatan town, Albay past midnight Monday. <ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/07/27/21/2-farmer-activists-gunned-down-banao-bridge-guinobatan-albay">2 aktibistang magsasaka patay sa pamamaril ng pulisya sa Albay</a></li></ul>The activists were only able to write &quot;DUTERTE IBAGS&quot; instead of &quot;DUTERTE IBAGSAK&quot; before they were killed by police. A report from the Police Provincial Office of Albay claimed the 2 men fired shots at the roving police patrol, forcing cops to fight back. Karapatan refuted the &quot;nanlaban narrative.&quot;<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/06/21/21/laguna-teen-police-killing">&#x27;Kalokohan&#x27;: Mother of Laguna teen slain in anti-drug op denies &#x27;nanlaban&#x27; claim</a></li></ul>&quot;Allegations of the &#x27;nanlaban&#x27; narrative that the victims fought back and they possessed guns are not only ludicrously false — they are unbelievable tall tales because both unarmed activists and they surely do not bear arms while doing graffiti,&quot; the Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay in a statement.Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) should investigate the incident because the police&#x27;s claims were &quot;highly suspicious.&quot;&quot;The claim is highly suspicious because, for one, activists who do graffiti work are not known to carry firearms and, for another, this &#x27;nanlaban&#x27; claim is practically the same excuse the members of the Philippine National Police have been using to justify killing people in the government’s drug war,&quot; said HRW senior researcher Carlos Conde.Conde added the Department of Justice should oversee the &quot;thorough and impartial&quot; investigation on the Albay killings. <ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/video/news/05/27/21/nanlaban-doj-drug-war-pnp">DOJ: &#x27;Nanlaban&#x27; cases in drug war says a lot about police rules of engagement</a></li></ul>Palabay said the latest killing is &quot;another damning evidence of the bloody state of the nation under Duterte.&quot;The killing took place before Duterte delivered his last State of the Nation Address, where he promised security forces of free legal services in case they figured in cases in line with their duty. <ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/07/26/21/duterte-sona-2021-military-police-added-benefits">&#x27;More benefits, legal assistance&#x27;: Duterte seeks more perks for uniformed services</a></li></ul>

Two activists in Albay were gunned down by police early morning Monday when they allegedly fought back after being accosted vandalizing a bridge with an anti-Duterte remark. Rights groups are condemning the incident and asking for a thorough investigation.

Two activists in Albay were gunned down by police early morning Monday when they allegedly fought back after being accosted vandalizing a bridge with an anti-Duterte remark. Rights groups are condemning the incident and asking for a thorough investigation.

Groups decry killing of 2 farmer-activists 'caught' painting 'Duterte Ibagsak' graffiti | ABS-CBN

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Groups decry killing of 2 farmer-activists 'caught' painting 'Duterte Ibagsak' graffiti

Groups decry killing of 2 farmer-activists 'caught' painting 'Duterte Ibagsak' graffiti

Jauhn Etienne Villaruel,

ABS-CBN News

Published Jul 27, 2021 08:12 PM PHT

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Updated Jul 27, 2021 08:21 PM PHT

Read More:

Nanlaban

Guinobatan

Albay

killings

activists

farmer activists

Karapatan

Human Rights Watch

regions

regional news

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