Elena “Lina” Tijamo, 58, was forcibly taken from her home in Barangay Kampingganon, Bantayan, Cebu in the evening of June 13. Suspected Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) elements—four armed masked men in civilian clothes accompanied by two women—held back family members while they covered Tijamo’s mouth with tape, tied her hands, and took her away.
The incident was reported by her organization Sustainable Agriculture Program of the Farmers Development Center, Inc. (FARDEC)- Central Visayas. Elena remains missing after more than four days.
Elena is the program coordinator for sustainable agriculture FARDEC. She is also the Community Radio Coordinator of FARDEC in Bantayan Island, Cebu. It has a radio program, Radyo Sugbuanon in partnership with the International Association of Women in Radio and Television (IAWRT) Philippines.
Cebu Provincial Police Office chief Police Col. Roderick Mariano, told reporters in a teleconference on June 14 that an investigation into Tijamo’s alleged abduction is underway. Mariano said Kampingganon barangay captain Oscar Despi reported the incident to Bantayan Police Station at around 9:40 p.m.
Elena’s sister Violeta Tijamo also reported the incident at the police station.
Based on Violeta’s account, around 8:00pm after dinner of 13 June, 2020, all six members of the Tijamo household retired to their rooms to rest, except Elena who remained at the dinner table to work. Violeta went out of her room due to dogs barking and a commotion coming from outside. She saw two women toting pistols inside the house by the kitchen door holding Elena whose hands were tied behind her back and her mouth plastered by masking tape. An armed man was positioned in the front door at the sala, while another three armed men were positioned in the kitchen.
Violeta asked the men in Cebuano, “What are you going to do with my sister when she commited no offense?”
They heard one of the male perpetrators replied, “Her husband committed a major offense” and another was overheard saying “This house does not recognize a government.”
Elena and Violeta’s elderly parents, who were with them in the house that time and who are both deaf, was unaware of the incident when it happened.
FARDEC relayed that from the night Elena was taken, her family members received text messages instructing them not to contact the authorities and Lina would be able to go home later.
The following day, they received calls where they were able to speak to Lina who told them that she will be released if social media posts such as the one by Karapatan Central Visayas and news reports of her abduction such as the one by Rappler would be taken down.
Red-tagged before abduction
Karapatan Central Visayas said that during the first quarter of 2019, Elena was red-tagged by state elements as being an “alleged New People’s Army.”
This was also at the height of the implementation of President Rodrigo Duterte’s counterinsurgency measures Memorandum Order No. 32, Executive Order No. 70 and the AFP-Philippine National Police regional counterinsurgency program Oplan Sauron under then-Central Visayas police chief Debold Sinas and Central Visayas military command chief Noel Clement (who became Chief of Staff of the AFP for four months),
Last May 24, Elena reported to the human rights group that a man claiming to conduct a survey for elderly beneficiaries of COVID-19 assistance visited her home but asked about her personal details instead. She later found out that the barangay had no knowledge of a survey.
History of red-tagging, harassment and killing against the group and its members
“Our stand for the rights of farmers has resulted in the targeting of FARDEC by protectors of vested interests,” said FARDEC in a media statement on June 14.
In 2006, Victor Olayvar, a member of FARDEC’s board of trustees, was killed in Bohol while leading a campaign against a reclamation project in Panglao island that threatened to displace thousands of farmers and fisherfolk.
Beginning in July 2018, the group said they received reports from our communities in Bantayan Island that they were visited by police and military who would discourage them from attending their organizations’ meetings because they allegedly talked only of going against the government.
In November 2019, FARDEC included, along with Oxfam, the Citizen’s Disaster Response Center, and the National Council of Churches in the Philippines, in a list of humanitarian and development organizations that were accused without basis by AFP Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence Ruben Basiao as fronts of terrorist groups.
FARDEC is a non-profit, non-government organization that offers paralegal and educational services to farmers facing land issues. Elena’s program in FARDEC oversees the promotion of traditional crop varieties, natural farming methods, and integrating agriculture to sustainable development and climate resilience in our project areas all over Central Visayas. She also coordinated FARDEC’s relief and rehabilitation of Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan)-affected communities in Northern Cebu including Bantayan island.
