The Communist Party of the Philippines joins the Filipino people in condemning the Duterte regime for perpetrating the ruthless killing of urban poor leader Carlito “Ka Karlets” Badion whose lifeless body was found late Thursday afternoon in Pagsanga-an, Riverside, Ormoc City, Leyte.

The murder of Badion is clearly the handiwork of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) headed by the Duterte-Año-Lorenzana-Esperon junta. The murder adds to the long list of fascist crimes of the regime. It aims to terrorize the Filipino people and clamp down on the people’s movement demanding social justice and democracy.

Badions’ body was found buried in a shallow grave to a coastal area. It bore marks of physical torture. Two days prior, the 52-year-old activist was abducted by suspected armed state agents and brought to a coastal area in the said barangay where he was tortured and killed.

Badion was the long-time secretary-general of the Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (KADAMAY). For two decades, Badion was known for fighting along with urban poor residents in occupation and mass housing campaigns, and community barricades against demolition. He was also a vocal critic of Duterte’s Oplan Tokhang and its campaign of mass killings in urban poor communities.

Badion earned the ire of the fascist regime for championing and defending the cause of the poor. Prior to his murder, he was reported to have received numerous death threats and was labeled a criminal and terrorist by the NTF-ELCAC. According to his colleagues, he relocated to Leyte where he continued to organize urban poor communities and remained steadfast in upholding the people’s rights even amid threats, difficulties and challenges.

The Party calls on the Filipino people to raise their voices to condemn the killing of Badion and demand justice. The people must resist the regime’s desperate attempt to stifle dissent by silencing the most vocal leaders of the national democratic mass movement.

The CPP calls on the New People’s Army to continue to mount tactical offensives against the Duterte regime’s attack dogs and perpetrators of fascist crimes.