EXTRAJUDICIAL killings continue to hound the Arroyo administration this year, with the death of a carpenter accused of being a member of the New People’s Army (NPA) in Claveria, Masbate, and a former political detainee who was just released from prison two years ago in Tagbilaran City, Bohol.

The human-rights watchdog Karapatan condemned the killings, which occurred within a week after an international body downgraded the Philippines’ democracy status to “partly free.”

Karapatan reported that policemen who abducted Tildo Rebamonte, 45, of Claveria, Masbate, tortured the victim before he was executed, allegedly to squeeze out information about the communist NPA that operates in the province.

Rebamonte, suspected as a member or sympathizer of the NPA, was allegedly abducted by members of the Philippine National Police-Regional Mobile Group at about 5 a.m. on January 12. The policemen allegedly took him to a ranch owned by Claveria Mayor Eduardo Andueza in barangay Binas. 

Witnesses said the policemen tried to force Rebamonte to disclose the NPA camps in the area. On January 14 the policemen allegedly took Rebamonte along in their operation in search of NPA camps. 

Rebamonte was found dead on January 16. His mutilated body was brought by the policemen to the municipal hall of Claveria. His hands were crushed and he had gashes on the face.

A neighbor of the victim informed Karapatan-Masbate about the incident.

However, Task Force Usig of the PNP said on Tuesday that the peasant leader slain in Masbate last week was killed during an encounter between the NPA and policemen.

Task Force Usig chief director Jefferson Soriano said Rebamonte was among a group of four NPA rebels that engaged the police in an encounter on January 15 at about 9 a.m. in barangay Malapinggan, Claveria.

Citing a report from Senior Supt. Henry Ranola Jr., chief of the Regional Investigation and Detective Management Division of the Police Regional Office 5, Soriano said Rebamonte was seriously wounded in the encounter and died while being brought to Claveria for treatment.

Rebamonte was allegedly abandoned by his colleagues who fled during the clash.

Members of the Bravo Company of the 5th Provincial Mobile Group, led by Insp. Dennis Balla, recovered from him an M16 rifle, a .45-caliber  pistol, a hand grenade and a backpack containing ammunition clips, gun spare parts and personal provisions.

“We immediately took cognizance of the case of Rebamente because it was first reported by the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas as a case of political violence. However, we found out that the incident was the result of a legitimate encounter between police forces and the NPA,” Soriano said.

Meanwhile, Ronald Sendrijas, a former political prisoner, was gunned down in Tagbilaran City, Bohol province, on January 17, his 35th birthday. 

Sendrijas was released from prison in August 2006 after being charged with rebellion and criminal cases.

The victim visited his sister who had just given birth at the Ramiro Hospital in Tagbilaran City. While buying medicines at the Paz Pharmacy across the hospital, two men onboard a motorcycle stopped in front of the pharmacy.

Witnesses said the man riding on the rear of the motorcycle alighted and approached Sendrijas from behind, put his arm around the victim’s neck and said, “Ronald,” as if to confirm his identity, then shot him twice at the back of his head with a 9mm pistol, killing the victim instantly.

Before Sendrijas’s death, he was implicated by former Bohol police superintendent Arturo Evangelista in the assassination of Bayan-Bohol chairman Victor Olayvar, who was gunned down on September 17, 2006.

The victim’s relatives said Sendrijas was offered with positions within the government in exchange for his surrender and cooperation with the 302nd Infantry Brigade of the Army which he rejected.

Since then, they said that the victim started receiving death threats through his mobile phone.

ADB: Fiscal constraints hinder administration of justice in RP

THE fiscal constraints being experienced by the judiciary is hindering the better administration of justice in the country, according to a report released by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

MEMBERS of the bicameral conference committee expressed optimism on Tuesday that it would be able to consolidate the best features of the Senate’s Quality, Affordable Medicines Act and the House’s cheaper medicines bill, once Congress reconvenes next week.

IN a bid to put an end to the problem of extralegal killings and enforced disappearances in the country, the Supreme Court (SC) has approved the rules to govern the implementation of the writ of habeas data—the third legal remedy for the victims of human rights violations.

SENATE Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. (PDP-Laban) Tuesday denounced a move of proadministration local chief executives to relaunch a people’s initiative to amend the Constitution with the objective of abolishing the Senate.

THE Sumilao farmers who continue to fight for the ownership of the former Quisumbing property in barangay San Vicente, Sumilao, Bukidnon, met with Catholic bishops at the Pope Pius XII building in Manila yesterday to convince the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) to take a more active role in the struggle for agrarian reform.

THOUSANDS of farmers marched to Mendiola yesterday to commemorate the “Mendiola Massacre,” echoing the same demand—social justice and land for the landless—which tragically ended with the death of 13 protesters at the historic place exactly 21 years ago.

EXTRAJUDICIAL killings continue to hound the Arroyo administration this year, with the death of a carpenter accused of being a member of the New People’s Army (NPA) in Claveria, Masbate, and a former political detainee who was just released from prison two years ago in Tagbilaran City, Bohol.

Church leaders on Tuesday appealed for the resumption of peace negotiations between the government and the National Democratic Front (NDF), saying this is a better option than getting bothered with rumors of destabilization.