HRD Attack
Jose Reynaldo “Jory” Porquia - Madia-as Ecological Movement
Sources
The Philippines’ COVID-19 lockdown has exacerbated threats to activists fighting for their lands and their environment, with least 10 land defenders swept up in a series of arrests by security forces during the two-month lockdown period. Another defender, who was providing relief aid, was shot and killed by unknown assailants.
Jose Reynaldo “Jory” Porquia was gunned down in Iloilo City in the central Philippines by unidentified assailants on April 30, 2020. He was shot nine times by four assailants in his rented home after providing relief assistance to urban poor communities.
Porquia was a well-known community organizer in the province and the driving force behind the Madia-as Ecological Movement, the biggest environmental organization in the Panay region. Porquia campaigned against large-scale mining, coal power plants, and mega-dam projects in Iloilo and nearby Capiz province. He also helped provide relief, livelihood and shelter assistance to victims of Typhoon Haiyan in 2013.