The Communist Party of the Philippines on Tuesday mourned the death of Fr. Joe Dizon, paying tribute to the “revolutionary Catholic priest, patriot and humble servant of the working class and the toiling masses.”
Dizon, who was a prominent figure in the campaign to oust former President Joseph Estrada and helped convene various groups such as the election watchdog Kontra Daya, died late Monday night at the age of 65.
Just before he died, Dizon was a leading figure in the anti-pork barrel movement.
The CPP did not say if Dizon had any direct involvement with it, but it recognized him as “among the pioneer organizers of the Basic Christian Community in the 1960s, which put into practice the progressive Catholic social teaching of having preferential option for the poor,” an advocacy “being advanced by the Christians for National Liberation,” one of the underground organizations within the National Democratic Front.
The CPP cited Dizon’s work organizing the urban poor and workers’ communities, where he "became tempered in their struggles." In 1995, he set up the Workers’ Assistance Center in Dasmarinas, Cavite that helped workers within the Cavite Export Processing Zone.
It also acknowledged Dizon’s advocacy for human rights and social justice, and his opposition to “US interventionism in the Philippines.”
“He will be remembered as among those who carried forward the revolutionary tradition among the Filipino clergy, pioneered by Fathers Gomez, Burgos and Zamora who stood up against Spanish colonialism, and carried forward by the likes of Fr. Pops Tentorio and Willhelm Geertman who dedicated and sacrificed their lives serving the masses, and revolutionary martyrs Frs. Frank Navarro, Zacharias Agatep and Nilo Valerio who marched the path of the people’s war and dedicated their lives as armed fighters of the people,” the CPP said.
Tentorio and Geertman were missionaries who were murdered by what their friends and human rights advocates believe were military agents.
“With his demise, Fr. Joe Dizon’s name is now etched into the granite stone of the Filipino people’s gallery of heroes and martyrs, where it will inspire future generations to dedicate their lives to the struggle for national and social liberation and the struggle to end oppression and exploitation,” it said.
Dizon’s remains are at the San Roque Cathedral in Caloocan City, where a tribute is scheduled Wednesday night.
On Thursday morning, Dizon’s remains will be transferred to the Parish of the Holy Rosary in Rosario, Cavite.
http://www.interaksyon.com/article/74206/cpp-hails-fr--joe-dizon-revolutionary-patriot-servant-of-the-masses
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