Another activist killed in Leyte
TACLOBAN CITY – Unidentified men gunned down a militant leader-turned-police asset at a busy marketplace here early yesterday morning.
Rogelio Picoy, 51, was pronounced dead on arrival at the Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center (EVRMC) from a gunshot wound in the head. The bullet – from a .45-caliber pistol – reportedly ricocheted, hitting and seriously injuring Therese Tadefa who was sitting behind Picoy. Tadefa was hit in the abdomen and also brought to EVRMC.
Picoy’s death came three days after the gunslaying of another former militant leader, Charlie Solayao, vice-chairperson of the Kalipunan ng Mamayang Mahihirap.
Senior Supt. Romulo Cleve Taboso, Tacloban police chief, said that based on initial investigation, the gunman casually walked toward Picoy and shot him at close range while another suspect acted as lookout. Police recovered a .45-caliber slug from the crime scene.
Task Force Usig chief director Geary Barias blamed communist hit squads for the murders. A team from Task Force Usig, which is already investigating the Solayao murder here, will expand its probe to include Picoy’s murder. “It will be in addition to its mission to assist in the investigation of Tuesday’s murder of urban poor leader Charlie Solayao also in Tacloban,” Barias said.
Picoy’s widow Rebecca said over dyVL Aksyon Radyo that she knew her husband’s killers but declined to divulge their identities in public. Her husband, she said, had received death threats days before he was shot.
Rebecca said her husband left a militant group when he landed a painting job at a carnival. She did not say which group her husband was affiliated with but Tabosa said he was an Anakpawis regional coordinator and vice chairman of Kadamay-Tacloban chapter before joining the Philippine Guardian International Brotherhood Association and becoming a police asset.
“We are suspecting, based on the information of Mrs. Picoy, that the motive of the killing might be related to the victim’s decision to get away from the militant group, but of course we are still exploring other angles,” Tabosa told reporters.
Presidential assistant for Eastern Visayas Victor Domingo condemned the killings of Picoy and Solayas.
“These political killings must be stopped the soonest possible time. I am appealing to the authorities to double their effort in resolving these cases,” Domingo said.
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