This story
was taken from Bulatlat, the Philippines's alternative weekly
newsmagazine (www.bulatlat.com, www.bulatlat.net, www.bulatlat.org).
Vol. VI, No. 50, Jan. 24, 2007
Protesters Condemn Bicol
Killings
Activists condemned the continued
killings of activists by suspected military agents, the latest of which
were three Bayan Muna party-list members slain separately in Albay and
Sorsogon provinces in the Bicol region in the past three days.
The latest slayings bring to 824 the victims of
extrajudicial killings under President Arroyo.
A report by the Karapatan (Alliance for the
Advancement of People’s Rights) said
killed at noon yesterday was Ruben Ermino, 52, a
tricycle driver of Tabi village, Gubat, Sorsogon and a Bayan Muna member, who
was shot dead by motorcycle-riding men. At 7 pm, Demetrio “Don” Imperial, 26,
was having dinner with his wife and child in Sogoy village, also in Sorsogon,
when armed men in ski-masks barged into their home of and shot him.
The Karapatan report said on Monday, Jan. 21,
Ananias Burce, village chief of Oras, Tabaco City, Albay was shot dead with
eight gunshot wounds in Bantayan village, in the same town.
Some 50 activists led by the Bayan Muna
Party-list picketed the gate of Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City, accusing the
military of perpetrating the killings. Camp Aguinaldo houses the Department of
National Defense and the Armed Forces of the Philippines. The protesters burned
pictures of President Arroyo and AFP chief Hermogenes Esperon.
Atty. Neri Colmenares of Bayan Muna said the
killings are “not only a violation of human rights, but a violation of the
electoral rights of the people.” He said that Arroyo had done nothing to stop
the killings, and in spite of condemnation by international bodies.
On Jan. 19, in Catarman, Northern Samar,
university professor and human rights worker Jose Ma. Cui was gunned down in his
classroom. Bulatlat © 2007 Bulatlat
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