Labor leader killed in front of wife, son in Negros Occ.

MANILA, Philippines - At least three masked and heavily armed men shot dead a leader of an agrarian reform group in front of his wife and son in Manapla town in Negros Occidental province over the weekend. Radio dzBB reported Tuesday that the incident took place at 7:30 p.m. Friday in Hacienda Marian, San Pablo village in Manapla town. Killed was Armando Dolorosa, 45, a leader of an agrarian reform group and vice president of the National Federation of Sugarcane workers in the hacienda. His widow Janetta said the victim sustained 23 gunshot wounds in different parts of the body. She said she suspects the killers were "hired." Initial investigation also showed the victim may have known one of the three suspects whom he called "Tol (brother)," and even welcomed them to enter his house. But Janetta said she heard a burst of gunfire, after which the suspects fled. They returned and shot her husband again, seemingly to ensure his death. Police recovered 12 empty shells of M-16 and cal-.30 rifles from the scene. Hacienda Marian, formerly owned by Freda Regalado, was leased to several landowners before it was subjected to land reform under the Voluntary Offer to Sell scheme of the Department of Agrarian Reform. Dolorosa said her husband and 36 other agrarian reform beneficiaries were given Certificates of Land Ownership Awards (CLOAs) by DAR in 2007, to own a portion of land in Hacienda Marian in the village of San Pablo, Manapla. But immediately after, her husband received threats from what she called "planters" that something may happen to him and others. Dolorosa, who along with her 11-year-old son, were spared by the armed suspects, said she is not inclined to believe that the suspects were members of the New People's Army or Revolutionary Proletarian Army. She also said she received reports of armed men roaming the village and neighboring areas. Mrs. Dolorosa also hinted that one of the suspects she identified as "Tol" is a family friend, and the two other suspects may have been hired to kill her husband. Dolorosa recalled that the animosity between her husband and the person she called as "Tol" started after agrarian reform beneficiaries in the hacienda got their CLOAs. Armando was the third local National Federation of Sugar Workers’ leader killed in Manapla alone since 2003. Manapla is a 3rd class municipality in the province of Negros Occidental, with a population of 49,581 in 9,512 households. - GMANews.TV