Another militant gunned down in Tacloban City

An official of a militant workers' group was shot dead at a public market in Tacloban City in Leyte province in Eastern Visayas before dawn Friday. Radio dzRH reported that the victim, initially identified as Rogelio Picoy, succumbed to a gunshot wound to the head at the public market at about 5:30 a.m. Investigators are still looking for an unidentified gunman who managed to escape after the incident. The attack also wounded a fish vendor initially identified as Teresita Tahipa, who was rushed to the hospital after a stray bullet hit her. Sketchy initial reports indicated that Ticoy went to the public market from a local carnival when the attack occurred. Friday's incident was the second killing since the murder of Anakpawis Tacloban chairman Charlie Solayao, 51, in Tacloban City last Tuesday. Solayao's murder took place on the last day of a two-day summit on extrajudicial killings initiated by the Supreme Court in Manila. The Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) said earlier that Solayao's murder should be a red mark on President Arroyo's "report card" in her State of the Nation Address on Monday. "Because no one gets punished for the murders, the culture of impunity remains and (Solayao's murder) underscores this grim reality and despite the Summit on Extrajudicial Killings and Enforced Disappearance good intentions, it cannot serve as panacea to the ongoing bloodbath," said KMU chairman Elmer Labog. He added the murder during a high-profile summit on killings and disappearances indicate things are bound to get worse before it gets better. Labog said that unless the brawns and the brains behind the killings are made to pay for their crimes, "we cannot expect any let-up on spilling of blood by activists and opponents of the Arroyo regime." On the other hand, he said any advancement made during the summit will be endangered by the implementation of the new anti-terrorism law. Labog also said the killing gives them further reason to believe President Arroyo will just deliver "lies on the state of the economy, peace and order and the human rights situation in the country." "Arroyo will try to gloss over the bleak situation of workers and their families, the continued migration of our brothers and sisters due to lack of opportunity and the worsening human rights situation in the country but the whole country and the world knows what really is going on. She will be delivering a bloodied report card," he said. - GMANews.TV