The Council for People’s Development and Governance is demanding justice for detained peasant leader and land defender Joseph Canlas who succumbed to complications due to coronavirus disease .Canlas, 59, passed away Tuesday morning, May 11, according to militant group Anakpawi.s
Canlas, vice chairperson of Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas , was among those arrested in simultaneous police operations on March 30. CPDG believes that Canlas contracted the virus from his “unjust incarceration ” at the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology in Camp Tomas Pepito, Angeles City, Pampanga.
“Activism, criticism, and dissent is not and will never be a crime as it is safeguarded by the Constitution. Instead, the government should listen and heed the calls of marginalized sectors especially during this critical situation of our economy and health crisis we are facing,” Maza iterated.