On this day, 6 February 2001, Filipino revolutionary socialist and union activist Felimon “Popoy” Lagman was assassinated in Quezon City by four men.
Lagman had joined the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and fought against the right-wing military dictatorship in the 1970s, during which his wife, Lourdes Garduce-Lagman was killed and his brother, Hermon, was “disappeared”. He later split from the Party, believing that struggles in Metro Manila, the seat of the Philippine government, and in workplaces all over the country were a more effective strategy for workers than guerrilla warfare from the countryside. To this end he co-founded the Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP) union federation.
The government blamed the CPP for the murder but Lagman’s nephew, Karlo Sevilla, told us: “Our family is more inclined to believe that the assassins, in case they were indeed former comrades, had already abandoned any faction of the revolutionary movement by then and turned hired guns for the government. Unfortunately, until now we have no strong leads on the identities of the suspects, from the masterminds to the hired guns, who remain at large. Needless to say, his assassination remains unsolved and we are still seeking justice – nearing the 20th anniversary of his death.”
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