State forces kill health worker in Bacolod

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State elements gunned down health worker Za­ra Alva­rez, 39, at Ero­reco Subdivision, Ba­ra­ngay Man­da­la­gan, Baco­lod City on August 17.

Alvarez was an active member of the Neg­ros Island Integ­ra­ted Health Prog­ram, an organization which provides free medical services and trainings in poor communities across the island. She was a well-known human rights advocate not only in Negros but also in the international community. She spent more than two decades of her life serving the peasants and farm workers in the island. She also became part of a progressive program of the Catholic church.

The killing was also condemned by the Office of the Uni­ted Na­ti­ons Special Rap­por­te­ur on the Si­tua­ti­on of Hu­man Rights Defen­ders, Amnesty Inter­na­tio­nal and Sa­mi­du­on.

Earlier, the regime failed in its attempt to declare Alva­rez along with other activists as terrorists. However, state forces continued to maliciously link her to the armed movement. From 2012 to 2014, she became a political detainee under the Aqui­no III regime after being slapped with trumped up charges of murder and robbery. Alvarez is the 13th human rights defender killed under the Du­ter­te regime.

State forces kill health worker in Bacolod