Rev. Dodo Vallente, peasant advocate, enters 44th month in detention
In the early morning hours of June 25, 2019, Rev. Nathaniel “Dodo” Vallente was detained on trumped-up charges, from firearms and explosives planted against him.
Why is this government so tone deaf on the cries of the people? They wanted to import onions, a cheap fix to an “onion crisis” that was manufactured by the cartel of buyers and sellers. Though it is true that some farmers were discouraged by previous losses on onion crops (created through low farmgate prices and high costs of inputs), onions were actually available. The cartel just hoarded them in storage.
We need a government that will support the farmers toward true food security for the country! It would be a kind of support that also encourages the prosperity of the growers and helps farmers to plant what is needed by the nation.
Rev. Vallente understands this! He has been a farmers’ advocate for decades. He joins with the farmers and helps them protect their lands, and increase their production and their profits by working together in a people’s organization.
And what did the government do in retaliation for his efforts?
They planted!
Not vegetables—they planted Rev. Vallente with contraband and threw him into jail, where he remains to this day.
Let’s protect our farmers and our farmers’ advocates!
Dismiss the fabricated charges against Rev. Vallente!
Plant seeds of hope and justice!
Please pray for Rev. Vallente’s hearing in Bohol. Jan. 26, 2023 should be the last for the state’s presentation of fabricated evidence. Let’s pray that the case will be dismissed outright!
Too many people are jailed from this favorite modus operandi of the state forces. They plant the evidence, and then they testify that they found it. We know who’s doing the planting!
Rev. Vallente is innocent! Support our farmers who feed the nation!
Rev. Homar Distajo,
executive secretary for laity and local church development ministry,
United Church of Christ in the Philippines
