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Another activist killed in Isabela

ECHAGUE, Isabela (July 21) — Another militant activist, human rights advocate and peasant organizer was shot at around 7:30 P.M. on July 20 in a busy corner of this town.

Madonna Castillo, female, 31, sustained three gunshot wounds. She was rushed to Manango hospital in Alicia, Isabela and transffered to Isabela Provincial Hospital in Ilagan Isabela for intensive and emergency operation, where she eventually died at around 6:30 P.M. that evening.

Castillo was infront of a cellphone shop at the junction near the Isabela State University (ISU) in Echague at about  7:00 A.M. when a motorcycle approached. The gunman got off and fired hitting Castillo on both legs and stomach. According to witnesses, another shot aimed at her head  did not hit her because she already fell.

Castillo’s daughter and a classmate were with her during the incident.

Before the shooting, Castillo has been under constant harassment, surveillance and has been receiving threats for being critical of government policies.

The death of Castillo was the fourth political killing in Echague, Isabela this year and the sixth since 2002. Warlito Nagasao was kidnapped and killed on 2002. Jake Soriano was asssinated in 2004. Recently the couple Baby Mendiola and Ric Balauag were gunned down. Another Bayan Muna organizer, Markus Bangit, with a local public school principal, was killed in the same town last month.

Involved in a local farmers organization in the barrios of different towns of Isabela, Castillo was one of the founders and organizers of the Samahan ng mga Nagkakaisang Magsasaka ng Echague, the municipal chapter of Dagami (Danggayan Dagiti Mannalon iti Isabela) a provincial alliance of farmers organizations in Isabela.

She became active in organizing activities in the province and in the region from 2004 until first half of 2005 was an active peasant leader, always in the forefront of peasant dialogues with the different government agencies and different levels of the Local Government Unit (LGUs)  regarding issues like prices of farmers products, prices of farm inputs, irrigation fees, interests of land rent, and other land issues concrning the peasantry. In 2005 she acted as spokesperson for Anak Pawis Party list.

In 2005, she decided to look for a job to support her two children and send two nieces to high school.

Congressman Edwin Uy of the 2nd district of Isabela helped her support the schooling of her nieces and one of her children. Congressman Anthony Miranda of the 4th district helped her get a scholarship at the Isabela State University in Echague where she is currently enrolled at. # Michael Agonoy for NORDIS

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