The family of a Protestant pastor in the northern Philippines expressed fear for their lives after soldiers tagged them as communist rebels.
“First they tagged my husband as a rebel, harassed him with unwanted visits and malicious text,” said Daisy Mariano, wife of Pastor Marcelino Mariano in the town of Pugo in La Union province.
“Now they are also after my daughter and me. We no longer feel safe even in our community. We fear for our lives,” said Daisy.
Pastor Marcelino is a member of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) – North Luzon Amburayan Conference.
Daisy said that on June 15, during a meeting in the town hall, soldiers showed a list of organizations they tagged as fronts of the communist rebels.
She said her name, Marcelino’s, and that of their daughter, Jennybeth, were among those presented as communist guerrillas “working in the white area.”
Also named as rebels or rebel sympathizers were other members of the UCCP clergy.
“The problem with this is they accuse us without providing concrete proof,” said Daisy.
She said her husband’s work as spokesman of the Ilocos Network for the Environment and as member of the Ilocos Region Ecumenical Council might have gotten the ire of the military.
The organizations played a role in the region’s campaign against destructive mining.
Daisy is also deputy secretary of the Ilocos Human Rights Alliance while her daughter, Jennybeth, heads the Christian Youth Fellowship of the UCCP’s North Luzon-Amburayan Conference and is secretary general of activist youth group Anakbayan in the region.
She said the incident this month was only “the latest of the series of red-tagging and harassment” her family experienced.
