We rage and revolt—even in prison—at how our beloved comrade in the fight for the people’s welfare and basic interests and for comprehensive social changes, Eduardo “Ka Eddik” Serrano, was killed.
Ka Eddik, who for decades had been a staunch fighter for the rights of indigenous peoples, lowly peasants and other poor, exploited and oppressed people in the country, became a peace consultant of the National Democratic Front (NDF). He was arrested in 2004, illegally, following a consultation with NDF peace panel members, right after they had broken up.
To justify his arrest and long detention since then, several trumped-up charges were filed against a fictitious “Rogelio Villanueva” who authorities alleged was, in fact, Ka Eddik. It took more than 11 years before a regional trial court would rule that Ka Eddik was not Rogelio Villanueva.
Ka Eddik aged fast during those years in prison and his heart weakened more and more, until he had to fight for his life under poor and oppressive prison conditions. But more than these conditions it was the utter rottenness, indifference and cruelty of the prevailing reactionary ruling system and its systemic injustice that ultimately killed him.
We, Ka Eddik’s fellow peace consultants in the NDF and political prisoners in various jails throughout the country, vehemently protest what the prevailing reactionary ruling system did to him and continue to do to us.
We register and make loud our protest, together with that of our fellow political prisoners in this camp and elsewhere as well as with other detained NDF peace consultants.
—ADELBERTO SILVA, ALAN JAZMINES, ERNESTO LORENZO, LOIDA MAGPATOC, RUBEN SALUTA, TIRSO ALCANTARA, Ka Eddik’s fellow NDFP peace consultants detained in Camp Bagong Diwa