With hundreds of Philippine activists killed since 2001 it is inevitable that I sometimes encounter familiar names and faces among the victims. Renato "ka Atong" Pacaide is one of them. I will always remember the goofy, tall peasant leader from Digos who brought me to Kamukhaan, a village that was poisoned by the aerial spraying of the nearby banana plantation.
My friend Dr. Romy Quijano paid for his defense of the Kamukhaan farmers' right to health with a protracted legal struggle with the owners of the plantation. It cost ka Atong his life. He was shot to death by a hit squad last March 2. That is justice in the Philippines these days.
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