On June 19, 2012, Venecia “Inday” Natinga was shot dead along the street by gunmen riding a motorcycle while she was going home from the town in of Kapatagan, Lanao del Norte. She sustained seven (7) gunshot wounds by identified suspects hired by a police officer whom she had disputes with several times in relation to the peasant struggle for land rights.
Venecia “Inday” Natingga, was the mother of 3 children and a committed revolutionary peasant leader who had been active in defending the rights of peasants for land tenure improvement issues since 1994. As a peasant woman leader she touched several critical issues against landlords and big political clans that put her life under permanent threats and harassments. But all this did not prevent her from continuing her political tasks and building the movement of peasants who are not only struggling for land claims but also for the advancement of the Food Sovereignty campaign in the rural areas.
The participants at the International Women’s Seminar organized on 13-17 July 2013 in Amsterdam at the initiative of the Fourth International want to express our complete solidarity with the struggles of the peoples and especially the farmers for land rights and for the rights of women.
We want to commemorate the first year anniversary of this crime. The life and works of Venecia Inday Natingga will always be remembered and an inspiration for all us.
We call for justice for all victims of violence and oppression in the Philippines and around the world.
Participants from Antilles, Belgium, Brazil, Britain, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, The Netherlands, Tunisia and the Philippines.
Amsterdam, 17th July 2013