Melo panel: 'Palparan liable for political killings'

By virtue of "command responsibility," retired major general Jovito Palparan and other military commanders should be "held responsible" for the extrajudicial killings that took place in their areas of assignment while they were on active duty. Read more from the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

BAYAN-EV Spokesperson Survives Assassination Attempt

Reprinted from bulatlat.com

The Spokesperson of the regional chapter of the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) in Eastern Visayas survived an assassination attempt yesterday, Jan. 27.

At around 8:15 p.m., Flor "Pong" Acbo, 54, was shot by unidentified assassins right in front of the BAYAN-EV office in Philippine Homes & Housing Corporation (PHHC) in Tacloban, city capital of Leyte province. The motorcycle-riding assassins, however, missed their target and instead hit a bystander on the leg.

In an interview, Acbo told Bulatlat the incident has failed to douse his conviction. "I condemn the cowardly attempt on my life. This just shows how effective my work in exposing anomalies in government as well the abuses being perpetrated by the military. Instead of being cowed, this would strengthen my conviction to fight for the rights of the oppressed," he said.

The police have yet to complete their investigation.

4 activists killed in Bicol

UNIDENTIFIED men shot and killed two members of the militant party-list group Bayan Muna in Sorsogon province, while two others were found dead in Ligao City in neighboring Albay province on Tuesday. Read more from the Inquirer.

Samar Prof Shot Dead in Front of Students

Prof. Jose Ma. Cui, a history and communication arts professor at the University of Eastern Philippines (UEP), was shot dead by four bonnet clad and motorcycle riding men while conducting mid-term examinations for his class inside the Engineering Bldg. of the UEP in Catbalogan, Northern Samar around 3:35 - 3:45 p.m. today, Jan. 19. He sustained a gunshot wound on the forehead and another on the chest. He died on the spot.

Cui was also former secretary general of the human rights group Katungod-Eastern Visayas, the regional chapter of the human rights alliance Karapatan (Alliance for the Advancement of Peoples’ Rights) and founding member of the partylist group Bayan Muna in Northern Samar.

Read more from bulatlat.com

Another Bayan Muna leader shot dead

Rodolfo "Ompong" Alvarado, the Bayan Muna provincial coordinator in Albay [...] was shot dead inside his car on Dec. 31 in Ligao City. [...] Alvarado has the 122nd member of Bayan Muna and the 818th victim of political killings since President Macapagal-Arroyo reseumed office in 2001, according to [the] Bayan Muna national deputy secretary general. [...] Alvarado had seved as the regional coordinator of "Tabang Bicol", a relief effort spearheaded by the part-list group in the aftermath of supertyphoon "Reming". Read more from the Philippine Daily Inquirer.