Aurora ecozone officials deny attack on priest

Officials of a new economic zone in Aurora province on Wednesday denied that they were behind last weekend's attack on the rectory of a priest opposing the zone. Aurora Special Economic Zone (APECO) chairman Vitaliano Sabalo Jr. insisted they do not approve of illegal actions against opponents, let alone violence. “While we are pushing for the full development of APECO as the primary growth-driver for Aurora, we condemn in the strongest terms this attack on the parish convent of one of the ecozone oppositors," he said in an article posted on the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) news site. "This dastardly act has no place in a civilized society such as ours, which we find reprehensible," he added. Last Saturday, armed men hurled a grenade and fired shots at the house of Fr. Jose Francisco Talaban, parish priest of the Nuestra Señora de la Salvacion in Barangay Bianoan, Casiguran. The priest was unharmed in the attack. The gunmen left plastic laminated pamphlets supposedly issued by the Aniban ng Ayaw sa Komunista, accusing Talaban of “sowing disunity" in the town. Infanta Bishop Rolando Tria Tirona condemned the incident and voiced suspicion the attack was related to the anti-APECO campaign of farmers, fishermen and Dumagats whom Talaban supported. “With all due respect to those opposed to APECO, while we regret their somewhat hard-core stand against the ecozone — which is primarily intended to uplift the living conditions of the people of Aurora — we recognize that their stiff opposition to the ecozone project is part of the democratic atmosphere we are now enjoying. We are not out to stifle legitimate dissent to the ecozone by fair or foul means," Sabalo said. Sabalo also said he has ordered a full investigation to determine the motive and identify the perpetrators of the incident. He directed lawyer Veronica Vicedo, chief of APECO’s administrative and general services division, to coordinate with law enforcement agencies to get to the bottom of the incident and submit a report within 48 hours. Also, he said APECO will continue to reach out to the sectors affected by the project to arrive at a “win-win" solution to the core issues raised by its opponents. - RJAB Jr/KBK, GMANews.TV