Death by Democracy

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.

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The Philippine Inquirer reports: "Environment Secretary Ramon Paje recently expressed concern over the number of forest workers, whether volunteers or employed by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), threatened, harassed and killed in the line of duty... The latest fatality was Rolando Sinday, a forest ranger in Surigao del Sur who was gunned down by masked motorcycle-riding men while on his way home last month." Read the rest of the article.

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ABS CBN reports: "It was the military who shot and killed renowned plant taxonomist and ethnobiologist Leonard Co and his 2 companions, an independent fact-finding mission claimed on Wednesday. The mission, which is composed of members of the academe and cause-oriented group, presented its findings after conducting an investigation in the jungles of Kananga, Leyte, where Leonard and his team were slain on November 15. Mission head Giovanni Tapang of the scientists' group Agham said bullet trajectories at the site suggests that the gunshots all came from one direction. Evidence also suggests that Co and his group were the main targets of the gunmen, he added."

Update (2011-04-25): A website campaigning for justice for Leonard Co has been up and running for some time now. Please visit www.justiceforleonardco.org and learn more about what has been happening on this front.

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Samahan ng Magbubukid ng Batangas member Rene Rodriguez was shot by 2 masked men riding a motorcycle. Rodriguez was found dead at Brgy. Caybunga, Balayan, Batangas with 3 gunshot wounds on his head and chest. He is a peasant activist who fought for land reform and against land grabbing in Batangas. BAYAN-ST believes the killing is politically motivated and is still part of the counter-insurgency program Oplan Bantay Laya, now adopted by the Aquino administration. Batangas is one of the provinces in the region with massive deployment of military troops both in rural and urban areas.

Read the rest on the Southern Tagalog Exposure site.