Human rights advocate gunned down in Negros

MANILA, Philippines — Another human rights advocate was gunned down in Manjuyod, Negros Occidental on Sunday.

Police said motorcycle-riding gunmen shot Salvador Romano, 42, several times in Sitio Tupas, Barangay Poblacion as he left a Philippine Independent Church place of worship, where he worked as a youth adviser.  

Romano was also a former coordinator of human rights group Karapatan.

He is the 48th human rights activist murdered in Negros, according to Karapatan.

In November, two other human rights activists Elisa Badayos and Eleuterio Moises were shot dead.

Dinagat board member

Meanwhile, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) was told to conduct a parallel probe into the kiling of Dinagat Islands board member Wenefredo Olofernes.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra issued the directive yesterday under Department Order 347, adding that charges should be filed against the perpetrators.

Guevarra said NBI Director Dante Gierran should submit progress reports on the investigation.

Sen. Risa Hontiveros in a letter to Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Oscar Albayalde called for a speedy investigation into the incident.

Hontiveros said the PNP should also provide security to Dinagat Gov. Arlene Bag-ao, citing “real threats” against local officials in the province.

Olofernes was shot by unidentified men in Surigao City.

Probers said they are not ruling out politics as the motive for the killing. 

The Caraga police offered a reward of P100,000 for information leading to the arrest of the assailants. 

Human Rights Watch said recent killings in the country and the failure of the government to stop them calls for a more active international monitoring.

“The killings... share the modus operandi of killers commonly referred to in the Philippines as riding in tandem... Police said four people are killed this way in the Philippines everyday,” Carlos Conde, Human Rights Watch Philippine researcher, said. – Ben Serrano, Gilbert Bayoran, Rhodina Villanueva