Tuesday, January 02, 2007
 

2007 starts with new political killing


A lone gunman aboard a motorcycle shot dead the provincial chairman of Bayan Muna in Albay on New Year’s Eve, the latest of a spate of political murders in the Philippines.

Rodolfo “Ompong” Alvarado, 53, was driving his Toyota car on the way home about 5 p.m. when the gunman flagged him down and opened fire, Bicol military civil relations chief, Capt. Gil Marquez, told The Manila Times.

The Philippine National Police in Camp Crame said Alvarado died immediately from eight wounds.

The motive for the attack was not immediately known but colleagues said it could be linked to his work.

He was the fourth activist to be killed in the Bicol region in three weeks after Bayan Muna member Cris Frivaldo on December 11; human rights lawyer and former Sorsogon provincial board member Gil Gojol on December 12; and Bayan Muna Sorsogon provincial auditor Francisco Bantog on December 21.

Rep. Joey Salceda of Third Congressional District and a key adviser of President Arroyo, urged sobriety and the speedy resolution of the case.

“I ask the people of Ligao City and the entire Third District of Albay to remain calm in the face of this horrible and senseless killing that threatens to divide our community this New Year and four months ahead of the elections,” Salceda said.

“I admonish the police to expedite their investigative effort and waste no time and spare no resource to catch the killer and put him in jail. There is no reason at all to take one life not even for the government,” Salceda told The Times.

Police Director General Oscar Calderon ordered a thorough probe on Alvarado’s murder, asking cops to “get to the bottom” of the latest political killing.

More than 180 activists—including journalists, human-rights workers, left-wing politicians, trade unionists and lawyers—were assassinated in 2006 for their criticism of the government, rights groups say.

The number has shocked the Roman Catholic Church, Amnesty International and the European Union, forcing them to call on President Arroyo to stop the killings.

Mrs. Arroyo has created a special commission to investigate the deaths but none of the cases have so far been solved.

Activists blame military “death squads” for the attacks, a claim repeatedly denied by the armed forces.

The military says that many of those slain were members of groups fronting for communist insurgents and may have been targets of internal purges.
--Jeannette Andrade, Rhaydz Barcia and AFP