HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
Ambushed Ilocos Pastor
had Death Threats
The United Church of Christ in the
Philippines (UCCP) pastor and Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan or New
Patriotic Alliance) leader in Ilocos region who survived an assassination
attempt by gun-toting men on a motorcycle along Del Pilar Street in Vigan
City last Nov. 9 had received death threats prior to the attack. Rev.
Billy Austin, who is in his 40s, had been receiving death threats through
text messages sent to his mobile phone, reports from the Ilocos Human
Rights Advocates (IHRA) show.
BY KIM QUITASOL
Northern Dispatch
Posted by Bulatlat
The United Church of Christ in
the Philippines (UCCP) pastor and Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan or New
Patriotic Alliance) leader in Ilocos region who survived an assassination
attempt by gun-toting men on a motorcycle along Del Pilar Street in Vigan
City (405 kms north of Manila) last Nov. 9 had received death threats
prior to the attack. Rev. Billy Austin, who is in his 40s, had been
receiving death threats through text messages sent to his mobile phone,
reports from the Ilocos Human Rights Advocates (IHRA) show.
Bayan-Ilocos chairman Rev.
Billy Austin was attacked by two unidentified gunmen aboard a motorcycle
around 9 p.m. last Nov. 9. He sustained two gunshot wounds, one on each
upper leg. His two companions, Avelino Dacanay and Lenville Salvador, were
unharmed after they scampered for safety.
Dacanay is the
secretary-general of the Solidarity of Peasants Against Exploitation
(Stop-Exploitation) while Salvador is also a UCCP pastor and Bayan Muna
(People First) leader.
Based on an IHRA report, Austin
and his companions were attending the Ecumenical Human Rights Training at
the United Methodist Church in Vigan when the assassination attempt was
pulled.
Cordillera Peoples Alliance
(CPA) chairperson Beverly Longid disclosed during a recent press
conference that on the said evening, Austin was on his way to the Bayan
office, a few meters away from the training area to do some paper work.
She said the bullets lodged in Austin’s legs were from a .45 caliber
pistol.
Longid said the human rights
training is a response to the escalating human rights violations in the
Ilocos region. She added that the activity included basic human rights
familiarization, paralegal training and education on the Comprehensive
Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL).
“Clearly Austin’s case is a
part of one grand scheme of the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo government to
silence her critics not only in Ilocos but all over the country, the Oplan
Bantay Laya,” Longid stressed.
Longid further said that Austin
is now out of danger and is guarded by police officers. She said
suspicious men who refused to identify themselves insisted on seeing
Austin in his room at the Lahoz Clinic and Hospital where he was rushed.
Sr. Alice Soberañas of the
Association of Women Religious urged the people to unite and call for a
stop to the killings. She said the escalating attacks on and killings of
church workers is alarming and disturbing. She added that the killing of
church workers and progressive group members is a disrespect to the
sanctity of life, dignity of human beings and total disregard to the right
to life.
“Ngayon, kapag hindi ka
umaayon (sa gobyerno) ay wala kang karapatang mabuhay” (Now, if you
don’t agree with the government, you have no right to live), Soberañas
said. She further said that if there is doubt on the legality of a
person’s action, he should be punished under the due process of law.
Ecumenical Theolocigal Seminary
President Rev. Luna Dingayan said Austin is not the first UCCP pastor or
church worker to fall victim to the “senseless” killings. He said that
some of his former students have been killed. He added that some of his
current students miss their classes because they could not come back after
weekend vacations due to military operations in their respective towns.
Dingayan said the church should
serve all peoples and not only its members. He also said service to the
people needs sacrifice and is risky. “A true servant of the Lord is
willing to face the challenges and risks of serving the poor, the weak and
the needy,” he said. “History shows that even the early prophets were
persecuted and killed by the powers that be for exposing and criticizing
their evil acts.”
Vigan City Mayor Ferdinand
Medina has ordered policemen to investigate the shooting and come up with
immediate results because it might affect tourist confidence here. “I hope
it will not affect the outlook on Vigan,” the mayor said.
Vigan, Ilocos Sur’s capital, is
one of the country’s primary tourist destinations in the North.
Based on data from Karapatan
(Alliance for the Advancement of People's Rights),
there have been 780 victims of extra-judicial killings from January 2001 –
when President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was catapulted to power through a
popular uprising – to Nov. 11, 2006. Of this number, 339 are confirmed to
have been political activists.
Austin is not the first church
leader to be shot in Ilocos Sur. On Nov. 28, 2005, Jose “Pepe” Manegdeg
III, a member of the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines (RMP), was shot
by alleged assassins while waiting for a Manila-bound bus in San Esteban
town. He was killed in the attack. Until now, authorities have yet gto get
a breakthrough in Manegdeg’s killing. With reports from Ace Alegre /
Northern Dispatch / Posted by Bulatlat
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