Bacolod City – The local community of Negros Island as well as her friends and families are still reeling and mourning over her gruesome murder just one week earlier. As the twilight set on the rainy afternoon of August 17, no one saw that one of the brightest suns of Negrense activism would set forever.
Despite human rights defender, health worker, activist, and single mom Zara Alvarez being red-tagged by the military since two years ago, proscription by military of being a “terrorist” and cleared of charges just three months beforehand, and having received multiple death threats via SMS, everybody’s greatest fear happened.
It had been a week after the National Democratic Front’s peace consultant and Anakpawis leader Randy Echasis was killed, and as of the latest autopsy report, was gruesomely stabbed & tortured multiple times before being left for dead. That night, Paghimutad was scheduled to run a tribute for Ka-Randy who had also helped the local national democratic civic organizations in the island as well.
According to her colleagues, Zara was returning from the funeral of a teacher-activist in her hometown of Cadiz City, with one neighbor adding that she had just bought food from an eatery nearby the boarding house where she resides with two others.
At around 6:45 p.m., as thunders roared over the Eroreco subdivision, residents of Pueblo Rosario, a government-assistant housing project in the area, heard ringing of gunshots across the area. A brawny man wearing a white t-shirt was seen driving away in his motorcycle two blocks away from where Zara’s body now laid paralyzed on the asphalt.
Four, five, six shots are heard. Autposy reports that six bullets had penetrated Ms. Alvarez, piercing through her heart, lungs, and liver, with the other three bullets hitting her back, side, and hand. Witnesses near Zara said that the killer briskly walked up behind her, and as he fired, she did not fall immediately to the ground. She allegedly also was seen grasping the killer’s legs with both hands as she fell on her back on the flood-riddled cement.
Moments later, breaking news rang out throughout the radio and social media sites that an unkown woman had just been shot by the name of “Sarah” or “Zara”. Immediately, Karpatan Negros Island and other mass organizations members quickly scrammed to verify if it was indeed their colleague and dear friend whose name was just uttered, confused if she was robbed, framed for a crime, or had been killed. However, the news would be confirmed as two of her colleagues went over to the scene of the killing where their friend & fellow activist now laid down dead under two umbrellas nearby neighbors had placed over her body. Zara Alvarez was dead.
A true human rights defender until the very end
Up until her last breath, Ms. Zara Alvarez was working hard to document cases of human rights abuses & aid those who have been wronged by the system.
Zara was helping on a case of trumped-up charges in Kabankalan City where four individuals had been arrested under accusations of being members of the New People’s Army. The mother of one of the accused and her neighbor had traveled all the way to Bacolod with her help, and found courage to speak up about their recounts of events and abuse/intimidation from authorities. Prior to the SONA 2020 protest, she was helping file a human rights case for them as well as scout for lawyers who could help them with their case.
Clarizza Singson of Karaptan Negros Island also recounts that they had just visited the Calatrava PNP Office a few days prior to talk to political prisoners who had just been arrested for being alleged New People’s Army rebels, and had been accused of illegal possession of firearms and explosives.
Ms. Alvarez was also helping file a human rights report for the youth who were redtagged by “Brown Eagle” and the 303rd Infantry Brigade Facebook accounts as terrorists, using photos taken by LFS-Bacolod during #SONAgkaisa2020.
Outburst of solidarity, outrage, & tributes
A few hours after her murder, #JusticeForZaraAlvarez had trended on Twitter, with Facebook meanwhile inundated with personal accounts of Ms. Zara Alvarez and how she had helped so many movements, changed so many lives, and uplifted & carried a whole variety of causes.
During the wake of Ms. Alvarez, the program lasted up to 7 hours long with the mass starting at 1:00 pm, and concluding at around 8:00 pm as hundreds sent in not only their messages of grief & support, but also serenaded her with spoken-word poetry (bianalaybay), songs, and performances to honor her lifelong work for human rights.
Be it dozens of tributes from renowned activists & personalities in the NCR, to students from Davao, Cebu, & other parts of Visayas giving their personal sincere gratitude for having gotten to know her, as well as condolence messages from Nepal, Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany, U.S., Japan, S. Korea, and parts of Latin America, the champion of Negrense rights had impacted thousands around the world, gave light to the issues faced by the marginalized sectors of Negros Island, and stayed true to the end to her principles of fighting for a better future for both her fellow Negrosanons and peoples worldwide.
Paghimutad 