CCTA CONDEMNS KILLING OF ITS PRESIDIUM MEMBER 

 

            The CITIZENS CONGRESS FOR TRUTH AND ACCOUNTABILITY (CCTA) condemns the brutal killing of Bishop Alberto Ramento who was a member of the CCTA Presidium, in the same manner that the CCTA condemns the political killings that escalated under the administration of Pres. Gloria Arroyo.  The CCTA calls on the Commission on Human Rights to help investigate the crime considering that Bishop Ramento was an active human rights advocate and may have earned the ire of the police and the military for his militant advocacies.  

 

            As a CCTA Presidium member, Bishop Ramento actively participated in the hearings looking into the accountability of Pres. Gloria Arroyo for electoral fraud, human rights violations and graft and corruption.  Bishop Ramento voted to find Pres. Arroyo responsible and accountable for these charges when the CCTA issued its Findings this year.  In particular, Bishop Ramento supported the CCTA report finding Pres. Arroyo accountable for human rights violations including the political killings committed by suspected members of the AFP and the police against activists, church workers and other innocent civilians . 

 

            The CCTA is seriously concerned over the haste with which police dismiss the killing of Bishop Ramento as an ordinary case of robbery with homicide and not a case of political killing as this may result in allowing the real perpetrators to escape investigation and prosecution.  CHR participation in the investigation may help ensure that all possible angles and evidence will be considered and the real perpetrators prosecuted. 

 

            The CCTA expresses its sympathies with the family of Bishop Ramento, his church and his community for the loss of such an active crusader for human rights, truth and justice.  We join in the growing concern over the escalating human rights violations in the country and urge Pres. Arroyo to act swiftly to stop the political killings. 

 

 

Reference         : Vice-Pres. Teofisto Guingona 

Date                 : October 5, 2006