Death by Democracy

The Committee to Protect Journalists deplores the killing of Philippines radio broadcaster Andres Acosta, which police believe may be linked to his work. He was stabbed to death Wednesday in the town of Batac, 240 miles (390 kilometers) north of Manila. Read more from the Committee to Protect Journalists

esar Batralo, a consultant for the leftist National Democratic Front, did not make it to his family’s Christmas reunion in San Pablo City, just south of Manila. The human rights group Karapatan believe he could be the 94th victim of “forced disappearance” this year and the 207th since 2001.

Doris Cuario, secretary general of Karapatan in the Southern Tagalog area, said Batralo is also the fifth NDF consultant to be reported missing this year, added Cuario. His relatives believe he was illegally taken by military or police forces, if not the latest victim in the spate of political killings in the Philippines. Read more from the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

A member of the militant Moro group Suara Bangsamoro was shot and abducted by three unidentified gunmen in Tagum City early morning Monday, authorities and militant groups said yesterday. Read more from the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

On December 11, at the occasion of the International Day of Human Rights, a coalition of 65 unions and social organizations, held a torch vigil in front of the Philippine embassy in Brussels. To vigil was organized to remember all the victims of the political killings during the presidency of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, starting in 2001. Read more from bulatlat.com.

Unidentified gunmen wounded a union leader and three others in an ambush in Compostela town in Compostela Valley province early Friday morning, a militant group said.

Karapatan Southern Mindanao said Vicente Barrios, chairman of the United Workers of Suyapa Farm, was on his way to work along with three other people when waylaid by motorcycle-riding gunmen in Crossing Alegria around 5 a.m.

Read more from the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

Human rights lawyer Gil Gojol had just attended a court hearing and was inside a van when men on motorcycles gunned him down. Bayan Muna member Cisanto Frivaldo was at home when two men burst in and shot him dead.

The murder of Gojol yesterday and that of Frivaldo on Monday were the latest in a long series of seemingly unstoppable killings of militants since President
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo took office in 2001, leftwing groups said.

Read more from the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

CAGAYAN has become a valley of death for activists as a 19-year-old youth leader became the third militant in a month to be killed in the province.

Sangguniang Kabataan chair Nelson Asocena, a member of the youth group Anakbayan and the peasant group Kagimungan, was shot dead in an attack allegedly by six men in military uniform on Dec. 13 in Rizal, Cagayan.

Read more from the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has slammed the Arroyo administration for their failure to protect journalists, after the 47th journalist was killed under the presidency of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, and the 11th just this year, surpassing last year's total.

According to IFJ affiliate the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), Ponciano Grande, a broadcaster and former columnist from Nueva Ecija, was shot and killed by two assailants on December 7.

Read more from the International Freedom of Expression Exchange.

For couple Librado and Martina Gallardo of Pantabangan, Nueva Ecija, the torture and the threats inflicted on them by soldiers of the 48th Infantry Battalion were so brutal they chose to commit suicide. Even the dead couple’s son, Jason, was beaten so bad for failing to produce the money and gun the soldiers insist that the his late parents were hiding that he vomited blood. Read more from bulatlat.com.

Father Rolando de Leon is the parish priest of San Andres Apostol Parish in Norzagaray in Bulacan Province and the supervisor of 20 Catholic parishes in the city of San Jose and three towns in the area. [He] began experiencing a series of intimidating events after the Mass he celebrated on Sunday 30 October 2005 in Norzagaray. After the Mass, four envelopes were found in the church offering with the following message: "Warning to you Father Rolando de Leon; you will be the next." Three of the envelopes contained an M-16 bullet. Send a letter of appeal through the Asian Human Rights Commision.

Four farmers were wounded after they were reportedly ambushed by armed security guards of an influential landowner in Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental at 5:30pm on 17 November 2006. Read more and send an appeal letter.