Thread by @tonyocruz

Who was #RandallEchanis? Why did they kill him?

A thread based from lawyer Jobert Pahilga’s post on Facebook.

Randall “Ka Randy” Echanis came from a lower-middle class family.

His father was a native of Ilocos Sur, while his mother was from the nearby province of Abra.

Ka Randy was married to fellow activist Erlinda “Ka Linda” Lacaba Echanis.

Ka Randy and Ka Linda have two children: July and Amanda. They are both active in the peasant movement and in the advocacy for genuine agrarian reform.

Ka Randy first became an activist at the Philippine College of Commerce (now Polytechnic University of the Philippines). He later joined Kabataang Makabayan, chaired KM’s UE Chapter and joined the First Quarter Storm protests of 1970.

By the late part of 1970, Ka Randy heeded the FQS call to “serve the people”. He went around Ilocos, Cordillera and Cagayan Valley for farmers’ organizing, education and empowerment.

The Marcos regime arrested him in 1983.

Ka Randy was arrested without warrant in 1983 by a Ministry of National Defense Security Group under Colonels Gringo Honasan, Rodolfo Aguinaldo and Red Kapunan.

Ka Randy was detained under solitary confinement and held incommunicado from 1983 to 1984 in Camp Aguinaldo.

Even his close relatives and lawyers were not allowed to visit him.

From 1984 to 1986, Ka Randy was transferred to Camp Adduru, Regional Command 2 Stockade, in Tuguegarao, Cagayan until his release in March 1986.

For two years, Ka Randy was placed under solitary confinement.

After his release in 1986, Ka Randy joined the Samahan ng mga Ex-Detainees Laban sa Detensyon at para sa Amnestiya (SELDA) and became a member of its national council.

Ka Randy was also a founding member of Partido ng Bayan, the first leftist political party to be formed after the EDSA uprising and which sought to join the elections. He served in the preparatory committee of the party.

Ka Randy went back to peasant organizing in 1987 until his second arrest in 1990 by combined elements of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP), the Naval Intelligence and Security Force (NISF), and the NCRDC.

Ka Randy was held in a safe house for one week and subjected to physical and emotional torture before his transfer to Camp Crame Custodial Center. His wife Ka Linda was with him as well as their daughter, then two-year old Amanda, the youngest political prisoner at the time.

In 1992, Ka Randy was released after a Manila court dismissed the trumped-up charge of illegal possession of firearms.

Upon his release, he again became active in SELDA and helped process victims' claims in the SELDA-initiated class action suit against Marcos.

A testament to his commitment to peasant concerns, the country's biggest farmers' organization, the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas, named Ka Randy as deputy secretary-general in 1999. (He could hold that post until his death.)

As an expert on farmers' concerns, the National Democratic Front of the Philippines tapped him in 2002 as a consultant in the peace talks, and as a member of the NDFP Reciprocal Working Committee for Social and Economic Reforms.

As KMP deputy secretary-general, Ka Randy represented KMP in international peasant assemblies and conferences such as the World Farmers’ Assembly in France, the World Social Forum in Brazil, and the World Anti-Imperialist Conference in Indonesia.

Ka Randy was the national chairperson of Anakpawis Partylist, and helped in the drafting of the Genuine Agrarian Reform Bill (GRAB) now pending at the House of Representatives.

The Marcos regime arrested Ka Randy in 1983, accused him of being a ranking member of the Communist Party of the Philippines, and charged him with rebellion. Lawyer Jobert Pahilga said the charge was dismissed.

In 1990, he was again arrested and flasely-charged with illegal possession of firearms. The case was also dismissed.

In 2006, Ka Randy was also included in the Arroyo government's case against the Batasan 6.

The Supreme Court dismissed the case in 2007.

In January 2008, Ka Randy was again arrested over invented/recycled charges of mass murder in connection with the "Hilongos mass grave." The court still hears this case, but Ka Randy was granted bail.

Soon after serving in the peace talks in 2016-2017, Ka Randy was named a “terrorist” in the 2018 proscription case filed by the Department of Justice. The DOJ has since withdrew the petition.

Ka Randy was a respected peasant advocate, partylist chair, peace consultant. He was 72.

He was killed today in his Novaliches home.