Pinoys in The Netherlands seek justice for Dutch activist killed in PHL

Filipino and Dutch development workers marched to the Philippine Embassy in the Hague, the Netherlands in protest of the murder of 67-year-old Dutch national Willem Geertman and formally urge the Philippine government to bring the activist’s killer to justice. In a protest document presented to Philippine Ambassador to the Netherlands Lourdes Morales, the workers called on the government to “carry out a thorough and impartial investigation and prosecute the suspects.” Along with the protest document, letters of dissent from other global organizations were also presented to the ambassador, as well as a signature campaign supported by Geertman’s family. Those who joined the signature campaign included members of parliament, prominent church people, and various migrant and solidarity organizations, among others. Chairperson Theo Droog of the Nederlands-Filippijnse Solidariteitsbeweging (NFS), a Dutch-Filipino solidarity group, believes Geertman’s death is politically-motivated, even if the first news he received was about a case of armed robbery. “Maybe even if it is partly true that it was a robbery, but then behind it, it is a political killing, I (will) surely believe (that),” he said. Known for helping farmers Geertman was the executive director of non-government organization (NGO) Alay Bayan-Luson, Inc. (ABI) before he was shot down on Tuesday in front of his office’s headquarters in Pampanga by two unidentified men riding a motorcycle in tandem. He was known for his environmental causes and his stand on the plight of farmers working for estates such as the Hacienda Luisita. He started living in the country in the 1970s, in Baler, Aurora, as a missionary volunteer. Since then, Geertman, for whom a mass will be held for on July 15 in the Netherlands, considered the Philippines his second home. According to Bayan Europe, who also joined the march, Geertman is the second European community worker to have been slain during the Aquino administration. Italian priest and staunch mining advocate Father Fausto “Pops” Tentorio was the first, gunned down on October 17, 2011. Politically-motivated? Along with NFS and Bayan Europe, the European branches of NGOs Migrante and IBON and the International Coordinating Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines also joined the march. All groups believe Geertman’s murder is politically-motivated since his work as an environmentalist involved criticizing the government and fighting for the rights of farm workers to own land. “He was killed like a traitor, down on his knees and shot at the back,” said Maitet Ledesma of IBON Europe. “He did not deserve that, nobody, especially not Willem Geertman, who champions the plight of the poor and those who cannot fight for themselves.” “He is a good man, dedicated to work with people and uplift their lives. He is very social, he loves working with people and improve their lives even just a little bit,” Droog said. “Who is so afraid of this man who has done a lot of good things to people, to the environment, to farmers who cannot own even small parcels of land?” Jun Saturay, also from NFS, said, disgusted over the police’s claim that Geertman’s death was mere robbery. “There are a lot of signs that this is a case of extra-judicial killing.” Geertman’s family, friends and comrades believe that the least that can be done is to find and punish the activist’s murderers. - with Gian Geronimo, VVP, GMA News