By Ronron
January 24, 2007
Two alleged members of the Left-leaning Bayan Muna party-list group were shot dead on Tuesday in Sorsogon province allegedly by military agents, an official of the group said.
Atty. Neri Colmenares, a candidate for the Bayan Muna congressional post in the upcoming May elections, told Camp Aguinaldo reporters yesterday during the group’s rally outside the military camp that the latest incidents may just be a few of the many killings that will happen as the election nears to dissuade people from supporting their group.
Colmenares identified the first fatality as Ruben Ermino, 52, who was fired upon by unknown suspect/s at around 12 noon the other day (Tuesday) while he was driving his tricycle in Barangay Tabi, Gubat town.
The second member to be killed for the day is Demetrio Imperial, 26, of Barangay Sogoy in Castilla town. Colmenares said the suspects, who were wearing masks, first held Imperial’s wife and child at gunpoint while the family was having dinner at around 7pm that day before shooting their target.
“We fear that the political killings will escalate as the elections draw near,” Colmenares said in Filipino.
The group, numbering no more than 30, held a 45-minute rally outside Gate 2 of Camp Aguinaldo, fronting EDSA, to condemn the twin killings, which, he said, were perpetrated by “government forces”, based on witnesses’ accounts and circumstantial evidence.
“The killings are done in broad daylight, near police and military detachments, and by motorcycle-riding gunmen,” explained Colmenares.
Verification of the reported killings with the police was futile due to disconnected phone lines in the Sorsogon province.
Colmenares accused the government of resorting to killing militants because it “can’t beat Bayan Muna in the elections.
He disclosed that seeking the first and second nominee positions for Bayan Muna in the May 14 elections are Satur Ocampo and Teodoro Casino, both incumbent members of the 13th Congress./DMS
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