Dev't group calls for serious probe into Fr. Tentorio's killing

Condemning the slay of Italian priest Fr. Fausto Tentorio on October 17, the Philippine Misereor Partnership Anti-Mining Campaign (PMPI-AMC) called on authorities to conduct a serious investigation on the case. “This senseless killing should be a wake up call for the Aquino Administration to reconsider its recent decision of backing the formation and deployment of militias to beef up security for mining corporations. This move will only perpetuate the condition which made the killing of Fr. Faustino possible," said PMPI-AMC Project Officer Atty. Mario E. Maderazo in a press release. On Tuesday, President Benigno Aquino III vowed to seek justice for Tentorio, even as he said police are already exploring leads, as well as considering other theories for possible motive behind the killing. For her part, Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Leila De Lima said a task force headed by Undersecretary Francisco Baraan III will investigate the priest's killing. Tentorio was a member of the Pontifico Instituto Missioni Estere (PIME or Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions) and coordinator of the Tribal Filipino Program of the Diocese of Kidapawan, which strongly opposes operation of Sagittarius Mines Inc (SMI). The Dioceses of Marbel, Digos and Kidapawan are currently coordinating efforts to stop SMI from getting its Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) from DENR to operate its Tampakan Project. A blog post belonging to a fellow missionary assigned in Columbio town in Sultan Kudarat, cited anti-mining sentiments by the Tribal Filipino Program of the Diocese of Kidapawan highlighting the immense threats it poses to the ecological balance around Columbio and in several adjacent provinces. The blog entry also expressed dissatisfaction that last year, public hearings on the Environmental Assessment (EIA) conducted and presented by SMI did not give a fair chance to the opposition to present their side. According to other entries on the blog, Community Based Special Operations Teams soldiers threatened to paralyze peoples organizations and even church activities. They organized the Barangay Defense System (BDS) in an attempt to use civilians as counter insurgency agents and to protect the projects of Development Aggression such as mining and huge commercial plantations. Last Tuesday, members of the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan), Karapatan, Promotion of Church People's Response (PCPR) also held a rally outside the DOJ compound in Manila to denounce the killing of Tentorio. Likewise, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) condemned the killing, with its secretariat chairman Muhammad Ameen describing the incident as "brutality and savagery that no civilized men or groups could possibly do." Last Monday, a lone gunman shot Tentorio several times in the head and the body inside the compound of the Mother of Perpetual Help Parish Church in Arakan town, making him the third priest in his congregation to be murdered in the Philippines. According to the PIME Philippines blog, the two other Italian members of their congregation were also murdered were Father Tullio Favali (1985) and Father Salvatore Carzedda (1992). Parishioners of Tentorio, 59, have shown their respect, spending nights at the chapel where his remains were brought. Meanwhile, the PMPI-AMC is a partnership between and among non-government organizations (NGOs), people’s organizations (POs), church and faith-based organizations in the Philippines and Misereor, a development agency of the Catholic Church based in Aachen, Germany. — Carmela Lapeña/LBG, GMA News