Alexander "Alex" Orcullo (October 19, 1946 – October 19, 1984) was a Filipino journalist,

community leader Community leader is a designation, often by secondary sources (particularly in the media), for a person widely perceived to represent a community. A simple way to understand community leadership is to see it as leadership in, for and by the communi ...

, and activist known for speaking against the abuses of the

dictatorship A dictatorship is an autocratic form of government which is characterized by a leader, or a group of leaders, who hold governmental powers with few to no Limited government, limitations. Politics in a dictatorship are controlled by a dictator, ...

Ferdinand Marcos Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. (September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino lawyer, politician, dictator, and Kleptocracy, kleptocrat who served as the tenth president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled the c ...

, and for being a seminal figure of the protest movement against the Marcos dictatorship in

Mindanao Mindanao ( ) is the List of islands of the Philippines, second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and List of islands by population, seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the ...

, Philippines.

Journalism in Davao

Orcullo was a writer for the San Pedro Express, the editor of Mindanao Currents, and was instrumental in the founding of Mindaweek.

Murder

His writing and community organizing earned him the ire of the Marcos administration. On the night of his 38th birthday, October 19, 1984, Orcullo was driving home with his wife Nenen and their two-year-old son was accosted by a government-sponsored paramilitary group called the Philippine Liberation Organization, at a checkpoint in Barangay Tigatto in the Buhangin district of Davao City. After telling Orcullo to alight from his car and then subjecting him to a body search, the men shot Orcullo thirteen times in the back, in front of his wife and child. The public outrage resulting from his death became an important rallying point of the fight against the Marcos dictatorship in Mindanao, resonating with the

assassination of Ninoy Aquino Ninoy Aquino, Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr., a former Senate of the Philippines, Philippine senator, was assassinated on Sunday, August 21, 1983, on the airport apron, apron of Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Manila International Airport (no ...

in Luzon the year before.

Legacy

Orcullo is honored as one of the martyrs of

Martial law Martial law is the replacement of civilian government by military rule and the suspension of civilian legal processes for military powers. Martial law can continue for a specified amount of time, or indefinitely, and standard civil liberties ...

whose names are inscribed on the Wall of Remembrance at the

Bantayog ng mga Bayani The Bantayog ng mga Bayani (), sometimes simply referred to as the Bantayog, is a monument, museum, and historical research center in Quezon City, Philippines, which honors the martyrs and heroes of the struggle against the Martial law under F ...

(lit. ''Memorial of the Heroes'') in

Quezon City Quezon City (, ; ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read and pronounced in Filipino language, Filipino as Kyusi), is the richest and List of cities in the Philippines, most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 c ...

References

Individuals honored at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani Assassinated Filipino journalists Filipino radio journalists 1946 births 1984 deaths Marcos martial law victims Journalists honored at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani People from Davao City Journalists killed under the Marcos administration 20th-century Filipino journalists Mindanawons honored at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani {{Philippines-bio-stub

Journalism in Davao

Murder

Legacy

See also

References