CWA Statement on the Senseless Murder of Human Rights Activists in the Philippines

“The Communications Workers of America (CWA) mourns the senseless and tragic murders of human rights and labor activists in the Philippines in recent days, including Randall “Ka Randy” Echanis, Reken Remasog, and Zara Alvarez,” said CWA’s Senior Director for Government Affairs and Policy Shane Larson. “These losses are unfathomable and tragic. Zara was a friend to CWA members and to the worldwide labor movement. She performed critical paralegal work to document the situation when Anne Kruger, another Filipino activist and friend to CWA who has hosted CWA members including a group of striking Verizon workers in 2016, was arrested on false charge and  put in prison last year.”

“These devastating losses and senseless murders carried out in the case of Reken Remasog by the Philippines military must remind us that an injury to one of us is an injury to all. Though we are all experiencing extreme suffering worldwide, we must not turn a blind eye to the emergency situation as these brutal, politically-motivated killings of labor and human rights activists are happening now in the Philippines. We, as part of the global labor movement, cannot stand idly by while Duterte kills labor activists one by one. We must condemn it, and do every single thing within our power to stop it. And that starts with mobilizing to enact legislation like the Philippines Human Rights Act which would deny US tax dollars to the Philippines military as long as they are engaged in brutal and murderous repression like this.”