Justice for Randy and Puroy dela Cruz! Justice for the Bloody Sunday Martyrs!

On March 7, 2021, the Bloody Sunday Massacre took place—one of the most brutal displays of state repression in our country’s recent history. In coordinated operations across the Southern Tagalog region, the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police carried out simultaneous raids that resulted in the deaths of nine Indigenous Peoples, labor leaders, and human rights defenders. The operations were carried out through the service of search warrants that human rights groups widely questioned for their irregularities, including the use of nearly identical warrants for raids in different locations - a practice that raises serious legal concerns. Four years have passed, yet justice remains elusive, and the perpetrators remain unpunished.

Among those killed were Randy Dela Cruz and Puroy Dela Cruz of the Dumagat-Remontado Indigenous community in Rizal. They were known defenders of their ancestral lands, actively opposing destructive projects such as the Kaliwa Dam and advocating for the rights and welfare of their people. Like many Indigenous leaders across the country, they faced harassment and threats for asserting their community’s right to ancestral land and self-determination. Even after their deaths, their families and communities continue to endure militarization, intimidation, and violence as they organize and assert their collective rights.

The Bloody Sunday Massacre did not occur as an isolated incident. Its execution was part of the Duterte administration's counterinsurgency campaign, which authorized state forces to target activists and dissenters through the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC). Under the guise of counterinsurgency, this campaign institutionalized the practice of red-tagging, which has led to false accusations, fabricated charges, unlawful arrests, and the killings of activists, Indigenous leaders, peasants, workers, and human rights defenders throughout the country. Bloody Sunday stands as a chilling example of how state power has been used to silence legitimate dissent and suppress grassroots movements.

The Marcos administration has sustained the climate of impunity that followed Duterte’s presidency. The same conditions that enabled Bloody Sunday —militarization, red-tagging, and the criminalization of activism—continue today. Instead of ensuring accountability, the state continues to shield human rights abusers and embolden security forces that violate the people’s rights. The continuing failure of the justice system to hold perpetrators accountable shows how repression persists across successive administrations.

Randy, Puroy, and all the other Bloody Sunday martyrs live on in the memories of their loved ones and in the struggles of the communities they served. Their courage and sacrifice strengthen the collective call for justice and accountability. Their lives remind us that the fight for land, rights, and dignity will not be silenced by the guns of oppressors nor by the threats used to suppress the people’s movement.

Reference: Funa-ay Claver, national coordinator