ILOILO City – The family, friends and colleagues of arrested Ilonggo activist Elmer Forro penned an open letter to Vice President Leni Robredo during the latter’s birthday on April 23.
Banding under the name “Free Elmer Forro Movement”, the group asserted that Forro, secretary general of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) in Panay Island, was arrested on trumped-up charges of murder “to deter him from his activism and to cripple Bayan-Panay.”
“It is our hope that once elected as President, you would not allow similar injustices to happen, such as what Elmer suffered. We hope, too, that your administration will uphold human rights and effect the immediate release of political prisoners in the country,” read part of the open letter.
Forro is presently a detainee at the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology district jail in Pototan, Iloilo. He was arrested on March 29, 2022 in a pre-dawn raid by military men.
According to the group, Forro was “manhandled and subjected to threats on his life.”
The Lambunao, Iloilo police which filed the murder complaint against Forro implicated him in a killing that occurred in a hinterland barangay of Lambunao at the height of the coronavirus pandemic in April 2020.
But at that time, according to the Free Elmer Forro Movement, the activist was actually “preoccupied with helping provide food and other assistance to members of people’s organizations affected by the lockdown and other restrictions.”
“As an activist and human rights defender, he stood against violations of human rights and readily came to the aid of victims. He also helped victims of calamities,” the group stressed.
Prior to Forro’s arrest, “he was red-tagged, vilified, threatened and put under surveillance like many of the activists here in Panay,” the letter to Robredo read.
Twice during the pandemic, Forro was charged in court “for calling for the government’s relief aid for the poor and for expressing indignation over the killing of fellow Ilonggo activist Jory Porquia on April 30, 2020.”
These happened, according to the group, despite both activities were conducted peaceably and according to health protocols.
Forro was arrested and detained for two days along with 41 other activists.
“Now, Elmer languishes in jail, one among the 16 political prisoners in Panay, also incarcerated because of trumped up cases,” lamented the Free Elmer Forro Movement.
His relatives and friends have come together to call for the dropping of charges against him and for ending human rights violations, tyranny and repression.
The letter if the Free Elmer Forro Movement was signed by Reverend Father Joel Forro Rudi (president of the Forro Clan); Mary Ann Forro, wife of Elmer; and Bryan Bosque of Bayan-Panay./PN
