𝗞𝘂𝘄𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝗲𝘆𝘂𝗽𝘀 𝗯𝘆 𝗔𝘁𝘁𝘆. 𝗗𝗲𝗻𝗻𝗶𝘀 𝗚𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗼

“Years of detention seem eternal yet I have decided to be just philosophical about this. I thought should strive to ‘bloom where I am planted’.”

Words from slain peace activist Randy Malayao lifted from our messenger chat on his experience during his four years of detention. He was arrested by military elements on May 15, 2008 as a suspect in the killing of former congressman and governor Rodolfo Aquinaldo.

“I was prepared to die. I even offered to dig my own grave. It was this acceptance of death that made me strong,” Malayao said as he narrated that he was blindfolded for four days and made to suffer many forms of physical and psychological torture. Despite severe pain and mortifying fear for the safety of his loved ones, Malayao refused to tell lies his torturers want him to say to save himself.

Malayao’s story was part of the Cinemalaya documentary film on Cagayan Valley activists “Bloom Where You Are Planted” that was screened at the University of the Philippines (UP) Film Center last January 30, 2026.

The screening coincided with Malayao’s death anniversary. On January 30, 2019, around 2:30 in the morning, Malayao was sound asleep on a bus parked at a terminal in Aritao, Nueva Vizcaya, when two unidentified men shot him dead.

The film directed by Noni Abao narrated the story of three land rights activists in Cagayan Valley: Malayao, Agnes Mesina (a development worker), and Amanda Echanis (a jailed mother-artist-activist). It won Best Film and Best Editing.

The film was cited for “its powerful and deeply humane portrayal of political activists uprooted by violence yet steadfast in their pursuit of justice and belonging; for transforming the struggle for land, peace, and dignity in Cagayan Valley into a meditation on home, hope, and resilience.”

Echanis was also present in the screening who was released last January 15, 2026 after five years of detention. A Tuguegarao City local court acquitted her of charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives.

The film showed a photo of me and Malayao taken in 1991 when he was elected as vice president for Visayas of the College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP), at the same time Teddy Casino of Bayan Muna partylist was elected the national president. I was part of the UP Diliman’s Philippine Collegian at that time.

Born in the town of San Pablo, Isabela, Malayao studied at the UP Visayas – College of Fisheries, where he served as the Editor-in-Chief of Ang Mangingisda, the official student publication of CFOS.

He recruited the highest number of member publications in Visayas, revived and rebuilt inactive ones, and established new publications in schools where none existed. In 1994, he left Visayas and was appointed CEGP National Deputy Secretary General.
After years as a campus journalist, Malayao became a peasant activist and the coordinator of the Bayan Muna Party-list in Cagayan Valley.

In 2008, he was imprisoned under Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s regime.
He was acquitted in 2010 due to lack of evidence and fabricated testimonies. But he remained in jail to face the other murder and frustrated murder charges against him.
I asked him how come he was allowed to communicate with me via messenger while in jail. He jokingly answered that he was the “governor” and he helped the jail officials in their academic requirements like research papers and dissertations.

He was also known for consoling fellow prisoners, writing letters for them, and conducting literary sessions. He even asked me to visit him and bring books.
Upon his release after spending four years behind bars, he became a peace consultant for the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP). As a peace advocate, he participated in various international peace forums and negotiations with the Government Republic of the Philippines (GRP).

The killing of Malayao on January 30, 2019 exemplified the pronouncement of the Supreme Court in Deduro v. Maj. Gen. Vinoya (G.R. No. 254753, July 4, 2023) that “red-tagging is a threat to people’s life, liberty, and security”.

Labelling a person “red” often comes with frequent surveillance, direct harassment, and in some instances, eventual death.

The Court stressed that being associated with communists makes a red-tagged person a target of vigilantes, paramilitary groups or even state agents. It also noted that red-tagging uses threats and intimidation to discourage “subversive activities.”

In his concurring opinion. My UP Law professor and SC Senior Associate Justice Marvic Leonen said that red tagging is used by the military and paramilitary units to silence or cause untold human rights abuses on vocal dissenters.

Not only does this make these leaders’ lives and liberties vulnerable, Justice Leonen stressed that a chilling effect on dissent is also generated among similar-minded individuals.

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(𝑃𝑒𝑦𝑢𝑝𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑘𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑈𝑛𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑃ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑝𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑠. 𝐴𝑡𝑡𝑦. 𝐷𝑒𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑠 𝑅. 𝐺𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑐ℎ𝑜 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑒𝑎𝑓𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑟𝑠’ 𝐷𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑎𝑝𝑎𝑙𝑜 𝑉𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑧 𝐵𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑛𝑔 𝐵𝑢𝑙𝑖𝑙𝑎𝑛 𝐿𝑎𝑤 𝑂𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑒𝑠. 𝐹𝑜𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠, 𝑒-𝑚𝑎𝑖𝑙 𝑖𝑛𝑓𝑜@𝑠𝑎𝑝𝑎𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑧.𝑐𝑜𝑚, 𝑜𝑟 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙 0908-8665786.)