The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP, Peasant Movement of the Philippines) raised the alarm over the recent surge in extrajudicial killings. It reported that in just four months, seven peasants were killed.
BY RONALYN V. OLEA
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
Bulatlat
A peasant group raised the alarm over the recent surge in extrajudicial killings.
The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP, Peasant Movement of the Philippines) reported that in just four months, seven peasants were killed.
From November 6 to December 6 last year, three peasant leaders and activists were killed in Mindanao, the group said. They were Danny Qualbar, Isabelino Celing and Rolando Antolihao.
A leader of the Compostela Farmers Association (CFA) and Bayan Muna coordinator, Qualbar was shot dead, Nov. 6, 2008 at around 5:30 in the afternoon while driving a motorcycle in Brgy. Osmena in Compostela town.
Celing, another Bayan Muna leader in Compostela Valley, was shot and wounded by two unidentified men in Monkayo. November 30 last year. He died on Dec. 6, 2008 at the Davao Regional Hospital.
Antolihao, a member of Bayan Muna in Davao del Norte, was killed by a lone gunman in his house on Nov. 10, 2008.
This year, KMP said that four more peasants became victims of extrajudicial killings.
On February 18, Francisco Julnanero, a council member of Kaugmaon, a local peasant organization affiliated with KMP, was killed in Sta. Catalina town, Negros Oriental.
On March 9, Eliezer “Boy” Billanes, peasant leader of KMP-Far South Mindanao Region (KMP – FSMR) and chair of Socssargends Alliance for Genuine Development (Socssargends AGENDA), the regional anti-mining formation, was killed in South Cotabato.
According to Karapatan (Alliance for the Advancement of Human Rights), Billanes was gunned down by two unidentified men on board a scooter with plate number MJ5432. The victim was buying a newspaper along the public market of Koronadal City fronting the City Fire Station, around 4 p.m. when the assailants attacked.
