Lumad teacher Chad Booc was killed by state forces yesterday, February 24.
The 10th Infantry Division initially said that Booc was killed in an armed encounter in New Bataan, Davao de Oro. Along with Booc, four more individuals were killed, one of which was also a volunteer teacher in Southern Mindanao.
Contrary to this claim, Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) Chief Information Officer Marco Valbuena said that the state forces’ “‘encounter’ claim is an outright lie”. The local New People’s Army (NPA) unit in the area confirmed that no encounter happened in New Bataan, Davao de Oro.
Booc is a graduate of UP Diliman and served as a human rights activist. He served as a volunteer teacher for Alternative Learning Center for Agricultural and Livelihood Development (ALCADEV) Lumad school.
On February 15, 2021, Booc was among the detainees in what the state claimed as a “rescue operation” in a Bakwit School in Cebu. However, Lumads and progressives view the arrests as an attack against their community.
Even prior to his arrest and eventual death, Booc has long been red-tagged by state forces.
(RELATED STORY: Shock and terror in a Cebu Bakwit School, with 26 Lumad students and elders, and teachers detained from ‘rescue op’) [P]
UPLB Perspective 
for Chad.
“If you assume that there is no hope, you guarantee that there will be no hope. If you assume that there is an instinct for freedom, that there are opportunities to change things, then there is a possibility that you can contribute to making a better world.”
― Noam Chomsky
Pingback: UPLB Feb Fair 2022 highlights campaigns for academic freedom, democratic rights, fair national elections – UPLB Perspective
Pingback: Lest we forget: Why the fight for ‘genuine’ free education persists – UPLB Perspective
Pingback: ‘Iskolar para sa Bayan’: Progressives, relatives testify to the spirit of service lived by slain Lumad teacher Chad Booc – UPLB Perspective
Pingback: Sustaining the people’s campaign beyond the elections – UPLB Perspective
Pingback: NEWS | SCs conduct mobilization, deliver unit reports in first day of GASC 53 – UPLB Perspective
Pingback: Lean Alejandro: Honor in the line of fire – UPLB Perspective
Pingback: Lumads in the Philippines: An Enduring Fight for Indigenous Rights – Population and Security
Pingback: Mapanlinlang na alyansa, balatkayo ng Imperyalista – UPLB Perspective