A SOLDIER who was accused of killing a labor union president in Tarlac in 2005 has been turned over by his superiors to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) for further investigation, a belated military report said.

Lt. Col. Ernesto Torres Jr., chief information officer of the Armed Forces, identified the suspect as Pfc. Roderick de la Cruz, a member of the 24th Infantry Battalion of the Army’s 7th Infantry Division based in Nueva Ecija.

Torres said de la Cruz was transferred custody to the NBI on May 21 after his arrest by the Presidential Task Force Against Political Violence, a body formed to run after government personnel who were allegedly involved in extrajudicial killings.

Meanwhile, a court has issued a warrant of arrest against another soldier—Cpl. Randy Ogag—also of the Army, in connection with another case of alleged extra-judicial killing.

Torres said Ogag’s warrant had been returned though for confirmation of his identity by the Army Personnel Management Center. It was the PTFAPV’s implementing arm, Task Force 211, that served the arrest warrant of de la Cruz to his battalion commander.

De la Cruz was accused of the killing of Ricardo Ramos, a peasant leader and labor union president of the Central Azucarera de Tarlac Labor Union. The milling company is owned by the family of former President Corazon Aquino.

“The military leadership has vowed to fully cooperate with the investigations of concerned agencies on issues of human-rights violations and extra-judicial killings,” Torres said.

He pointed out that the Armed Forces will not allow or tolerate a cover-up of any incident.

“The Human Rights Office of the Armed Forces was made part of Task Force 211 to hasten investigation and prosecution of these sensitive criminal cases,” Torres said.

Police investigation showed that Ramos died of two gunshot wounds in the head when a lone gunman attacked him while he and some of his members were having a celebration at his backyard over the settlement of a labor dispute in Hacienda Luisita in October 2005.

RP prepays $468M of foreign debts in Q1

CONTINUED foreign inflows that boosted the country’s level of foreign-currency reserves allowed the economic managers to pay ahead of schedule $467.6 million worth of foreign debts in the first three months.

A SOLDIER who was accused of killing a labor union president in Tarlac in 2005 has been turned over by his superiors to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) for further investigation, a belated military report said.

SENATE President Manuel Villar Jr. wants a simplified application of the no-fault insurance system for migrant Filipino workers in a bid to check the rising number of workers victimized by illegal-recruitment syndicates.

Senators unanimously approved on third reading last night a new income-tax reform bill paving the way for bicameral conference committee deliberations to craft a reconciled Senate-House version of a remedial legislation that would grant automatic exemptions to minimum-wage earners and provide relief to all individual taxpayers by increasing personal exemptions to approximate increases in inflation.

PORO POINT, La Union—President Arroyo has chosen the commander of the Presidential Security Group (PSG), Brig. Gen. Romeo Prestoza, to be the new chief of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (Isafp).