2020 Annual Report on the Human Rights Situation in the Philippines
57
191
The issue of Echanis’
body allegedly being
seized by police officers
started after finding out
about his identity. His
wife said that more than
10 police officers from La
Loma PNP forcibly took
the cadaver on Monday
night from them after
they transferred it to the
family’s preferred funeral
home.250
192
On the side of the QCPD,
Criminal
Investigation
and
Detection
Unit
(CIDU) chief Maj. Elmer
Monsalve earlier said that
the police officers took
the cadaver because an
order was necessary for its
release.273
193
Zara Alvarez, former
education director of the
human rights alliance
Karapatan, died on the
spot after being shot six
times as she was heading
home after buying food
for dinner. She was
the 13th member of the
organization killed since
mid-2016, when President
Duterte came to power,
the group said. Police said
Alvarez was killed by an
unidentified assailant in
the central city of Bacolod.
Witnesses
reportedly
chased the attacker, who
got away with the help
of an accomplice on a
motorcycle. 251
194
Bea Milda Ansabo, a female indigenous peoples’ rights’ activist and a leader of the Manobo
tribe who actively promoted programs protecting ancestral lands from capitalists, was
250
Talabong, Rambo. “Police ‘forcibly takes’ Randy Echanis’ body from funeral home,” Rappler, 11 August 2020,
available at https://www.rappler.com/nation/police-forcibly-takes-randy-echanis-body-funeral-home, accessed 18
December 2020.
251
Lalu, Gabriel. “HR says alleged snatching of Ecanis’ body an issue of respect for human dignity,” Inquirer.Net, 11
August 2020, available at https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1320197/chr-says-alleged-seizure-of-ndfp-consultants-bodyan–issue-of-respect-for-human-dignity, accessed 18 December 2020.