Monday, June 26, 2006
Vendetta motive for slay of activist couple
By Ben O. Tesiorna
DAVAO CITY -- Police are eyeing "vendetta" as the motive behind the killing of two journalists in Kidapawan City on June 19.
Authorities tagged the Sparrow Unit hit men of the New People's Army (NPA) as behind the killing of couple George and Maricel Vigo.
Kidapawan City Mayor Rodolfo Gantuangco is offering another P100,000 for informants who could help in the arrest of the suspects, raising the reward to P150,000.
Chief Superintendent German Doria, the newly installed police director for Central Mindanao, identified the suspect as Dionisio Madanggit, a former gun-for-hire and now a member of a local communist unit in North Cotabato.
Investigators identified Madanggit based on descriptions provided by witnesses.
Madanggit allegedly shot to death the couple on June 19 while the victims were on their way home.
Doria said the NPA suspected the couple of providing information to government forces that led to the killing of Commander Benjie Pahac, leader of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP)-NPA Guerilla Front 51 operating in Makilala, North Cotabato, in 2004.
The victims were part-time broadcasters for radio station DXND in Kidapawan. They were stringers for an international Christian publication, the Union of Catholic Asian News.
Militant group Bayan Muna, however, believes it was the Arroyo administration that was behind the couple's death.
Bayan Muna spokesperson Jeppie Ramada said the murder of the Vigo couple "bear the pattern of state-sponsored killing."
"Just like the rest of the victims of these ruthless political killings, the Arroyo regime should be held liable for the deaths of Mazel and George Vigo. The motives and circumstantial evidence are undeniable and are enough to point to the state's accountabilities in the killings," Ramada said.
He said the killing of the Vigos is the most recent in Kidapawan City and in the province, which is "fast becoming a hotspot for political repression."
Last month, two officers of militant organizations suffered serious injuries after their office was attacked a week after militant leaders complained of heavy surveillance by military intelligence.
Earlier this year, five other leaders were murdered in Makilala town in separate incidents by bonnet-clad armed men. (Sun.Star Davao/With reports from Sun.Star General Santos)
(June 26, 2006 issue)
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