By Dennis Gorecho
“Years of detention seem eternal yet I have decided to be just philosophical about this. I thought I should strive to ‘bloom where I am planted.’”
Words from slain peace activist Randy Malayao (August 29, 1969 – January 30, 2019) lifted from our Messenger chat on his experience during his four years of detention.
He was arrested by military elements on May 15, 2008, as a suspect in the killing of former congressman and Governor Rodolfo Aguinaldo.
“I was prepared to die. I even offered to dig my own grave. It was this acceptance of death that made me strong,” Malayao said as he narrated that he was blindfolded for four days and made to suffer many forms of physical and psychological torture.
Despite severe pain and mortifying fear for the safety of his loved ones, Malayao refused to tell lies his torturers wanted him to say to save himself.
Malayao’s story was part of the Cinemalaya documentary film on Cagayan Valley activists “Bloom Where You Are Planted” screened at the University of the Philippines (UP) Film Center on January 30, 2026.
The screening coincided with Malayao’s death anniversary. On January 30, 2019, around 2:30 in the morning, Malayao was soundly asleep on a bus parked at a terminal in Aritao, Nueva Vizcaya when two unidentified men shot him dead.
The film directed by Noni Abao narrated the story of three land rights activists in Cagayan Valley: Malayao, Agnes Mesina (a development worker) and Amanda Echanis (a jailed mother-artist-activist). It won Best Film and Best Editing.
The film was cited for “its powerful and deeply humane portrayal of political activists uprooted by violence yet steadfast in their pursuit of justice and belonging; for transforming the struggle for land, peace and dignity in Cagayan Valley into a meditation on home, hope and resilience.”
Echanis was also present in the screening. She was released on January 15, 2026 after five years of detention. A Tuguegarao City local court acquitted her of the charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives.
The film showed a photo of me and Malayao taken in 1991, when he was elected as vice president for Visayas of the College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP), at the same time, Teddy Casino of Bayan Muna party-list was elected the national president. I was part of the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman’s Philippine Collegian at that time.
Born in the town of San Pablo, Isabela, Malayao studied at the UP Visayas — College of Fisheries, where he served as the editor-in-chief of Ang Mangingisda, the official student publication of the College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences.
He recruited the highest number of member publications in the Visayas, revived and rebuilt inactive ones, and established new publications in schools where none existed.
In 1994, he left Visayas and was appointed CEGP National Deputy Secretary General.
After years as a campus journalist, Malayao became a peasant activist and the coordinator of the Bayan Muna party-list in Cagayan Valley.
In 2008, he was imprisoned under Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s regime.
He was acquitted in 2010 due to lack of evidence and fabricated testimonies. But he remained in jail to face the other murder and frustrated murder charges.
I asked him how come he was allowed to communicate with me via Messenger while in jail. He jokingly answered that he was the “governor” and he helped the jail officials in their academic requirements like research papers and dissertations.
He was also known for consoling fellow prisoners, writing letters for them, and conducting literary sessions. He even asked me to visit him and bring books.
Upon his release after spending four years behind bars, he became a peace consultant for the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP). As a peace advocate, he participated in various international peace forums and negotiations with the government of the Republic of the Philippines.
The killing of Malayao exemplified the pronouncement of the Supreme Court in Deduro vs. Major General Vinoya (G.R. No. 254753, July 4, 2023) that “red-tagging is a threat to people’s life, liberty and security.”
Labelling a person “red” often comes with frequent surveillance, direct harassment and, in some instances, eventual death.
The court stressed that being associated with communists makes a red-tagged person a target of vigilantes, paramilitary groups or even state agents. It also noted that red-tagging uses threats and intimidation to discourage “subversive activities.”
In his concurring opinion, my UP Law professor and Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Marvic Leonen said that red tagging is used by the military and paramilitary units to silence or cause untold human rights abuses on vocal dissenters.
Not only does this make these leaders’ lives and liberties vulnerable, Justice Leonen stressed that a chilling effect on dissent is also generated among similar-minded individuals.
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“Peyups” is the moniker of the University of the Philippines.
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Atty. Dennis R. Gorecho heads the Seafarers’ Division of the Sapalo Velez Bundang Bulilan Law Offices. For comments, e-mail info@sapalovelez.com, or call 0908-8665786./WDJ