Govt scored for inaction over farmer’s slay in Bicol

Militant human rights groups scored the government over the weekend for its two-week silence on the murder of a farmer in Bicol last April 16. Karapatan said no progress has been made on the murder of Willy Jerus, 43, whom a lone gunman shot dead outside his house in San Juan village in Sorsogon in Bicol. “Send letters, emails or fax messages calling for the immediate formation of an independent fact-finding and investigation team composed of representatives from human rights groups, the Church, local government, and the Commission on Human Rights that will look into the assassination of Willy Jerus," the group said in a statement on the Stop the Killings in the Philippines website www.stopthekillings.org It likewise reminded the Philippine government that it is a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and that it is also a party to all the major Human Rights instruments, “thus it is bound to observe all of these instruments’ provisions." Jerus was a member of Samahan ng Magsasaka sa Sorsogon (Samasor) and a staff of the local chapter of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan). He was also a member of the Bayan Muna party list group, and a former community organizer of the local Children Rehabilitation Center (CRC). Initial investigation showed that at about 7 a.m. last April 16, a lone gunman whom Karapatan believed to be a military agent shot him then fled on board a Yamaha DT motorcycle. When Jerus came out of the house to water his plants, the gunman shot him twice. The victim was hit and bleeding but was still able to run towards the rear of the house. The assailant caught up with the victim in a creek about 50 meters away from his house and the assailant finished him off by repeatedly shooting him. The assailant fled from the scene on board a Yamaha DT motorcycle with plate number EM 5718. Recovered from the scene were nine empty shells of a .45-caliber pistol. “Prior to the incident, Willy was made to report twice to the military detachment when soldiers were deployed in Brgy. San Juan on September 20, 2004 until the first week of December 2006. Twelve residents were allegedly made to ‘surrender,’ and the victim was one of them," Karapatan noted. Karapatan also called for the arrest and prosecution of the perpetrators of the crimes of abduction and enforced disappearance. - GMANews.TV