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Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Police to probe claim that 4 left-wing activists were slain by soldiers (8:10 p.m.)
MANILA -- The head of a Philippine police task force, looking into a string of killings of activists and journalists, ordered a probe Tuesday into a left-wing group's allegations that soldiers recently killed four of its members.
Peasants Movement of the Philippines (KMP) spokesman Carl Ala said that soldiers killed three KMP members in central Negros Occidental province's Magallon town Saturday, and that another member was abducted Friday in southern Agusan del Norte province and later found dead.
"It is our mandate to investigate any complaint reaching our office," said Geary Barias, commander of the police Task Force Usig. "We will again seek the full cooperation of the KMP in looking for witnesses and pieces of evidence that will bolster their claim."
Barias said that according to the army, the three men killed in Negros Occidental were suspected communist New People's Army or NPA rebels who were slain in an encounter.
Ala identified the dead activists as Bobby Quilo, Benjamin Jilonga, and Richard Sarilo.
"They are not NPA members as their village neighbors would attest, and the military is on another killing rampage against our members," he said.
Barias said that according to reports he has received, the person slain in Agusan del Norte - identified by Ala as Jorge Dinolan – was a Manobo tribe member who was killed by a fellow tribesman.
Ala said Dinolan was from the tribe, but was abducted and killed by suspected army troopers. He said Dinolan's body, found in a river Saturday, bore signs of torture including multiple contusions, and a single gunshot wound to the head.
Local human rights group Karapatan has said more than 800 left-wing activists and their supporters have been killed since 2001 as part of a campaign to defeat the communist rebels.
The military has blamed most of the killings on an internal communist purge.
Military officials say left-wing activist groups are fronts for communist rebels, who have waged a rural-based insurgency for 38 years.
A government commission that investigated the killings last year and a UN human rights expert both concluded in February that soldiers were involved. (AP)
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