Human rights leader killed in Eastern Samar By Cyrain Cabueñas Inquirer Last updated 02:03am (Mla time) 11/06/2006 Published on page A1 of the November 6, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer THE HEAD of the militant human rights group Karapatan in Eastern Samar was shot dead yesterday by bonnet-wearing assailants in front of the parish church in General MacArthur town, bringing to 255 the number of activists killed in the country since 2001. The attack came four days after an illegal police raid on a convent in Butuan City on All Saints' Day, an act that Archbishop Oscar Cruz of Lingayen-Dagupan said was reminiscent of martial law when raids on religious sanctuaries were not uncommon. "Unless the present administration stops being a progressively emerging clone of the past martial law regime, people can rightfully expect worse things to come," Cruz said in a statement. In Zambales province, an officer of a farmers' group survived an attack by three men on Thursday, and the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas warned that "death squads" allegedly run by the military were on the loose again. Rodrigo Catayong, 55, was going to hear Sunday Mass with his wife Marcela, 54, and was about to get off his motorcycle when he was shot dead by two assailants at 6:15 a.m. Catayong was the provincial chairman of Katungod, the local counterpart of Karapatan. He was also an officer of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers and was a professor and secretary of the Board of Regents of the Eastern Samar State University in the capital town of Borongan, 3 kilometers from General MacArthur. Catayong was shot eight times at close range -- four times in the face, twice in the chest, and once each in the neck and back, according to the town police's officer in charge, SPO2 Solita Canites. Canites said policemen responded immediately after hearing gunshots but the attack happened so fast and the assailants had fled on separate motorcycles when they arrived. The church is only about 100 meters from the police station. The assailants fled toward neighboring Hernani town, witnesses said. Catayong's wife was rushed to the hospital by bystanders. She collapsed apparently when she realized that her husband was already dead. Fr. Guido Ditalo, the parish priest who witnessed the killing from the altar, told the Inquirer that he heard at least seven shots and saw Catayong fall. He said he did not see the assailants but only their backs as they fled on motorcycles. Hit list Roy Montes, general secretary of Katungod-Eastern Samar, said he suspected that the killing was the work of a shadowy anticommunist group called the Leyte Samar Hukbong Taga Hatol ng Bayan. In September, the group released a list of names of people in Eastern Samar province who were supposed to be on its "order of battle" for allegedly supporting the communist party's armed wing New People's Army. Catayong was on the list. Richie, 30, the oldest of Catayong's five children, said he was shocked by his father's death. He knew about the list but did not believe that his father, who just celebrated his 55th birthday on Nov. 3, would be killed. The existence of the list was discussed during the Provincial Peace and Order Council meeting last month, but Army Colonel Joel Cabide, commander of the 801st Infantry Brigade based in the province, said he knew nothing about the anticommunist group and could not confirm the authenticity of the list. He said the supposed existence of the anticommunist group and its order of battle could be a propaganda tool of the NPA to sow confusion among residents in General MacArthur. Superintendent Efren Lagmay, the police provincial commander, went to the house of the Catayongs in Barangay Aguinaldo yesterday afternoon where the militant leader was brought. He assured the Catayong family that the police would do everything in their power to investigate the killing and to bring the assailants to justice. Raid on convent In Butuan City, Bishop Juan de Dios Pueblos said the Philippine National Police should face the consequences of the raid on the convent of the Contemplatives of the Good Shepherd in Ampayon town. "They admitted their mistakes so they should take the consequences for what they did," he said, referring to the raiding team led by Superintendent Wilfredo Reyes. Pueblos said he would ask the Melo Commission to look into the raid which he described as "a case of misinformation. " The bishop is part of the Malacañang-formed body tasked with investigating political killings and other human rights violations in the country. Rule of force Sister Crescensia Lucero of the Association of Major Religious Superiors of the Philippines (AMRSP) said the raid showed the police's utter lack of respect for the sanctity of the convent and their blatant disregard of the right to due process. "The actions of [Superintendent] Reyes and his men show that indeed our government's law enforcers are the ones who violate the law by supplanting the 'rule of law' with the rule of force; a practice which continues to breed the growing culture of impunity," Lucero said. Reyes and his men barged into the convent at around 8:45 p.m. on Nov. 1 to arrest one Jorge Madlos, an alleged communist leader hiding there. Asked about their purpose, the officers replied in the vernacular: "Let us enter so there will not be any chaos." Fruits and bread Not finding their suspect, the raiding team left the convent shortly before midnight. Reyes returned the following day with fruits, bread, canned goods and other goodies --apparently his way of saying sorry. He explained that he was not aware what a contemplative community was, according to the account of Sisters Geraldine Ortuoste, Laarni Bongato, and Amelia Hendani, an Indonesian. A copy of the account was e-mailed to the Inquirer. "He said he did not like to antagonize the religious sisters because he was brought up in a Christian way," the account said. Still, the sisters said Reyes offered no written apology. Register protest The AMRSP's Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Commission said the incident "reminds us of the days of martial law when arms-bearing military would barge into people's homes without a search warrant." "But we are not under martial rule now! How it is that such an event could take place in our democratic society? We feel duty-bound to register our protest," it said in a statement. Attacked while feeding chicken In Palauig, Zambales, Emerlito Dizon, provincial secretary general of the Alyansa ng Magbubukid sa Gitnang Luzon (AMGL), was attacked by armed men on Oct. 29. He survived. Dizon was feeding his chicken in his backyard at Sitio Apalang in Barangay Bulawan when he was shot by three persons. A bullet hit Dizon in the left thigh. The KMP, through its information officer Carl Ala, blamed government soldiers for the attack. But Inspector Jose Rivera, Palauig police chief, said it could be a "possible retaliation" for several land disputes that Dizon had handled when the latter was in the underground movement. "They seized lands. That's one of the possible reasons there was an attempt on his life," Rivera told the Inquirer in a phone interview. With reports from Christian V. Esguerra in Manila; and Tonette Orejas, Inquirer Central Luzon Copyright 2006 Inquirer. All rights reserved.