Slain rights activist buried.

(From Philippine Daily Inquirer)

GENERAL LUNA, Quezon-Human rights activist Eden Marcellana was buried Tuesday in a secluded corner of the municipal cemetery here after a one-and-half-hour funeral march joined by some 2,500 mourners, mainly relatives, friends and fellow activists.

The marchers, many of them punching the air with clenched fists, carried colored balloons proclaiming "Justice for Eden, justice for all," and "Katarungan kay Ka Eddie and Ka Eden."

People lined both sides of the road and raised clenched fists as the funeral cortege made its way to the cemetery.

The final burial rites were capped by progressive songs fit for martyrs and heroes, including Marcellana's favorite song "Awit ng Bayani," interspersed with agitated calls for the blood of the perpetrators of the brutal double murders.

The bodies of Marcellana, the 31-year-old secretary general of the Karapatan human rights group in Southern Tagalog, and Eddie Gumanoy, chair of the farmers' group Katipunan ng mga Samahang Magbubukid sa Timog Katagalugan, were found in Bansud town, Oriental Mindoro province last week.

Initial findings by a justice department fact-finding team indicated the two may have been tortured and killed by the military as their colleagues have alleged.