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 59th Infantry Battalion; and a Colonel
Feliciano from the 2nd 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
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