Death by Democracy

"A peasant farmer was killed by soldiers from the 57th Infantry Battalion ... [who] fired at Batoy’s house, his wife Gina, who is six months old pregnant, and their two children, [who] were able to escape," reports HumanRightsPhilippines.net.

The Committee to Protect Journalists reports that Roy Bagtikan Gallego was scheduled to launch anew radio station program a few days before he was gunned down by men on motorcycle on October 14." The Director-General of UNESCO has condemned his death.

GMA News reports that "Tentorio was shot and killed by a lone gunman inside the compound of the Mother of Perpetual Help parish church in Arakan at around 7:30 a.m. on Monday."

There has been widespread condemnation by environmentalists, religious organizations, journalists, indigenous people's groups, and international human rights solidarity networks.

The Asia Indigenous People's Pact reports that a Dumagat tribal member was abducted by unidentified armed persons believed to be affiliated with the military.

ABC News reports that "four soldiers in the Philippines have been arrested for setting a man on fire they wrongly suspected of being an Islamic militant, the military said Monday, branding it an "inhumane act of torture". The soldiers tortured the man to force him to confess he was a member of the Muslim extremist Abu Sayyaf group, which has been blamed for the country's worst terror attacks, according to the military's human rights office." Read the rest of the article.

Bulatlat reports: "Two residents of Pangarap Village in Caloocan City were killed when security guards opened fire at a vigil site set up by residents protesting against the demolition in the area. Soliman Gomez and Rommel Fortadez died and six others were injured." Read the rest of the article.

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Bulatlat reports: "Roque Laputan, 59, a member of Anakpawis partylist, Davao del Sur, was murdered by unidentified men, July 10. Laputan, was at the forefront of protests against the operation of Xstrata-owned Sagittarius Mines Inc. in Davao del Sur and the company’s plan to put up a coal-fired plant here." Read the rest of the article.

The leader of an indigenous group in Agusan Del Sur, Arpe Belayong, was killed along with his 21-year old nephew Solte San-ogan were reported to have been killed by a paramilitary group. "Belayong was reportedly killed because of his refusal to sign a document on ancestral domain. His signature was needed so loggers could start operations within their ancestral domain," notes Bulatlat.com. Six human rights defenders have since then gone into hiding out of fear from this particular attack, reports the Asia Indigenous Peoples' Pact. This case has been recorded in detail by Karapatan.org.

The Inquirer reports that "the UCCP is asking Arroyo, now a representative of her home province of Pampanga, to pay at least P5 million for human-rights abuses allegedly committed against six leaders of the group during her administration". Read the rest of the story.