Death of a Betan Hero
by Joel Paredes
It was a sun-drenched, but surprisingly cool morning on Feb. 7 when our fallen
brod Randy Malayao was finally laid to rest at the public cemetery in his
hometown of San Pablo in Isabela.
“We hope that Randy will be an inspiration to all of us,” the local parish
priest said in homily at the jam-packed 17th Roman Catholic church near the
town’s poblacion.
Teary-eyed, the priest remarked,” Randy had exemplified the life of a man who
had served his people well without asking anything in return.”
Over 2,000 angry protesters, mostly peasant farmers and his activist friends,
chanted “Justice for Randy Malayao” as they took the streets while the
neighborhood silently watched his family who accompanied Brod Randy’s remains to
the church for final blessings.
In one of the street corners, a surprised young girl asked her mother why there
was a big protest march for a funeral. “He’s our hero. I’m proud of him,” the
mother replied, then continued to waive her white handkerchief, at the funeral
procession.
It was also the overarching message from the brods who delivered their eulogy
during the farewell rites for Brod Randy, which was presided by the GPs from the
different assemblies in the Cagayan Region on the eve of his interment. One brod
even described him as the “Che Guevarra of the Philippines.”
Satur Ocampo, a former militant lawmaker who now who chairs the Makabayan bloc,
where Brod Randy was the Cagayan regional leader, said that they will continue
with their series of protest actions to pressure government to bring to justice
Brod Randy’s assassins, if not the brains behind the murder.
“Oo, tinarget si Randy bilang Bayan Muna/Makabayan regional leader din,” Ocampo
texted friends on Jan. 30, the day Brod Randy was shot dead inside a passenger
bus when it made a strop in Aritao town in Nueva Vizcaya. He was on his way home
from Quezon City, and many believed our brod was already being tailed even
before he took the Victory Liner bus in Cubao.
The Communist-led National Democratic Front also paid tribute to Randy,
describing him as the “No. 1 Cadre in the (Cagayan) region” in a message
delivered by a woman during the necrological services at the church, if only to
refute claims by the local PNP that our fallen brod was gunned down by the
rebels.
Militant Gabriela Party-list Rep. Emmi de Jesus said it wasn’t surprising that
Brod Randy was victim of a smear campaign even in his death since he had become
a prominent “peace broker” when he was supposed to be a “high-value target” by
their political enemies.
To all brods who had known Brod Randy we continue to mourn, but we are also
celebrating his life, being the epitome of a breed of Beta Sigmans who had opted
to serve the people, believing that we cannot attain a “just society” by merely
watching on the sidelines.
During the funeral, the Cagayan brods proudly displayed their white shirts with
an image of Brod Randy and the words “ all that is good and noble in man.” He
will never be forgotten.