An urban poor activist was killed in San Pablo City, Laguna while another was wounded in a shooting around 7 a.m. today.

Killed was Eduardo Millares, 50, a member of the Samahan ng Magkakapitbahay sa Tabing Riles (SMTR or Railway Neighborhood Association), an affiliate of the Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (Kadamay or Alliance of Urban Poor Organizations) in this city. He sustained a gunshot wound in the head and four in the body.

Another SMTR member, Victoriano Cariño, sustained a gunshot wound in his right leg.

In a text message, Doris Cuario, secretary-general of Karapatan (Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights) in Southern Tagalog, said the killing took place a day after SMTR members started a dialogue with the San Pablo City Council regarding military activities in their community.

Cuario said soldiers led by Maj. Ramon Rosario and M/Sgt. Victor Reyes, both belonging to the Philippine Army’s 59^th Infantry Battalion; and a Colonel Feliciano from the 2^nd Division of the Philippine Army’s Jungle Fighters had begun building a detachment in the SMTR area. They had also been conducting a “census” on residents and imposed a curfew on a number of barangays (villages), Cuario said. The human rights leader also said the soldiers had been taking video footages and pictures of known SMTR leaders, and had been regularly “visiting” them.

“This killing took place at a place where there were previously no incidents of this sort,” Cuario said.

The SMTR has been actively protesting the implementation of the government’s project for the “modernization” of the Philippine National Railways (PNR), which is expected to drive thousands of urban poor families away from their dwellings.

“They are terrorizing the railway residents to stop them from fighting for their rights,” Cuario said. “The military presence there serves to facilitate the implementation of this project. They are spreading the claim that there are New People’s Army (NPA) members in the SMTR to justify human rights violations and the killing of its leaders.” Bulatlat 

© 2006 Bulatlat ■  Alipato Media Center

Permission is granted to reprint or redistribute this article, provided its author/s and Bulatlat are properly credited and notified.