(Photo courtesy of Council for Health and Development)
Health organizations and advocates have issued a statement of solidarity for Dr. Ana Marie Rilloraza, a physician known for her decades-long service to marginalized communities, after she was accused of alleged involvement with the so-called “Ilocos-Cordillera Regional Committee” by the Philippine Army’s 5th Infantry Division.
Dr. Rilloraza, a graduate of the University of the Philippines College of Medicine (Class of 1993) and founding member of UP Pangkalusugang Samahan ng mga Mag-aaral (PAGSAMA), has long been recognized for her commitment to community-based health work.
Early in her career, she joined the Community Health Education, Services, and Training in the Cordillera Region (CHESTCORE), where she led medical missions in underserved and disaster-stricken areas and trained hundreds of farmers and community members as health workers.
Her advocacy extended to environmental health, notably as spokesperson of the Save the Abra River Movement. She documented the impacts of large-scale mining on communities and ecosystems, presenting these findings at international forums such as the People’s Health Movement in Mumbai (2004) and the 2nd People’s Health Assembly in Cuenca, Ecuador (2005).
The solidarity statement emphasized that Dr. Rilloraza’s work embodies the physician’s moral duty to confront the root causes of ill-health, echoing Rudolf Virchow’s assertion that “the physician is the natural attorney of the poor.”
It condemned the charges against her as “trumped-up” and described them as an attack on the broader movement for health, justice, and human rights.
“To criminalize her service is to criminalize compassion itself,” the statement read.
“It is an attempt to silence those who dare to expose the cracks in our society and demand accountability for the injustices that make people sick.”
The Council for Health and Development (CHD), the national organization of community-based health programs, signed the statement alongside CHESTCORE.
CHD Chairperson Dr. Eleanor Jara and former Chairperson Dr. Magdalena Barcelon underscored that Dr. Rilloraza’s struggle is shared by all who fight for health, dignity, and human rights.
The statement concluded with calls to free Dr. Rilloraza, drop the charges, and uphold her fundamental rights. # (ROSE NOVENARIO
