Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Another task force leader gunned down
By Erwin Ambo S. Delilan
ANOTHER farmer-beneficiary of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (Carp) and leader of the Task Force Mapalad (TFM) was gunned down in Sagay City Monday night.
This time, it was Wilfredo Cornea, 52, a resident of Hacienda Luisita in Barangay Poblacion I, Sagay City.
Cornea is the third Mapalad farmer-leader to have been murdered in Negros Occidental. All the killings appeared to have been related to the land distribution issue in the province.
Police Superintendent William Señoron, Sagay City Police Office (SCPO) chief, said Cornea was shot to death by men who have yet to be identified.
He added that the incident happened while Cornea was resting inside his house at around 8:30 p.m. last Monday.
Cornea's wife, Nenita, was still preparing dinner when the incident happened. The couple has three children.
The TFM, on the other hand, has already dispatched a team in Sagay City to investigate further the slaying of their member-leader.
Karapatan-Negros, with at least two of its leaders in Negros island also falling from the murderers' bullets, also condemned the killing of Cornea.
Fred Caña, spokesman of Karapatan-Negros, said a systematic killing of Mapalad members and other militant people is the handiwork of the military in compliance with the recent order of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
This was quickly denied by Colonel Gregorio "Greg" Fajardo, commander of the Army's 303rd Infantry Brigade, who said that it was already "an old and broken record," referring to the repeated accusation against the members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
The first to have fallen in Negros Occidental was Rico Adeva while the second was Mario Domingo.
Adeva, a resident of Barangay Bagtic in Silay City, was assassinated by three alleged bonnet-wearing suspects at Imbang River located in the same barangay last April 15.
Members of the breakaway Revolutionary Proletarian Army-Alex Bongcayao Brigade (RPA-ABB) have been tagged as the primary suspects.
Later, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) clarified though that Adeva's relatives were behind the attack.
The CHR based its findings on the recent revelation of Adeva's wife, Nenita who said that she identified the suspects but that she can't reveal their identities for fear that she might be killed, too.
Adeva was a TFM labor-organizer in the Silay-Talisay area.
On May 17, Mario Dominggo, also a TFM leader in Hacienda Cambuktot, Barangay Mansalanao, La Castellana town was shot dead by six armed men, which were alleged to be "hired goons" of the Gustilo family, owner of Cambuktot.
Police identified the suspects as Romulo Ellano, Jr., a known rebel-returnee, Eduardo Semillano, Joepeth Ariasa, Joselito Silverio, Eric Fernandez and Jerry Minguillo.
Until now, they remain at large.
But after conducting a comprehensive probe on the incident, the La Castellana Police and Criminal Investigation and Detection Group filed murder case against Cambuktot owner, Farley Gustilo and the six suspects before the Negros Occidental Provincial Prosecutor's Office on June 8.
(June 28, 2006 issue)
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