On this 15th of November, we mark the 15th anniversary of the brutal killing of Leonardo L. Co, a respected botanist, plant taxonomist, and dedicated environmental defender. Co and his companions, Sofronio Cortez and Julius Borromeo, were murdered by elements of the 19th Infantry Battalion (19th IB) of the Armed Forces of the Philippines while conducting critical fieldwork in Kananga, Leyte, in 2010. This attack was not an accident; it was a targeted act of violence against those who prioritize nature and people over profit.
The incident occurred during the counter-insurgency operation called ‘Oplan X-mas Gift,’ where soldiers from the 19th IB indiscriminately open-fired on the botanists, mistaking them as members of the revolutionary New People’s Army (NPA). Witnesses report that Co, carrying only his tools, cried out, ‘Tama na, hindi kami armado’ (Stop, we are not armed). Both survivors and subsequent fact-finding missions disputed the military’s claim of an encounter, asserting there was no evidence of crossfire.
“Leonard was a man whose expertise in botany we cannot underestimate. He was not merely a botanist; he was an environmental defender (tagapagtanggol ng kalikasan).” His wife, Glenda Flores Co, stated. “You cannot teach botany in the classroom or the love for native plants. Kailangan mo dalhin sila sa gubat. (You must bring them to the forest.)”
Co used his expertise in ethnobotany to document 122 medicinal plants in the Cordillera and support over 50 community health programs, later expanding his work to the threatened ecosystems of the Sierra Madre, Palawan, and Eastern Mindanao. His commitment to grassroots science remains an enduring legacy, showing that science must serve the people.
For fifteen long years, justice for Leonard Co has been denied. Although the prosecution and defense finally concluded their presentations just before his 15th anniversary, his case remains officially unsolved as the court is set to hear the respondent’s proposed reduction of charges from murder to mere “reckless imprudence resulting in multiple homicide.”; a clear demonstration of impunity shielding state forces from accountability.
The Environmental Defenders Congress demands full accountability from the 19th IB for the murders of Leonard Co and his companions.
We strongly condemn the state for allowing Co’s murderers to go unpunished. The prolonged legal proceedings against environmental defenders and activists facing judicial harassment are straight out of the NTF-ELCAC playbook, designed to drain their resources and weaken their campaigns.
We demand justice from all those responsible, not just for Leonard Co, but for everyone who has fallen in the fight to defend the planet and its defenders.
