Amnesty International slams ‘cold-blooded’ killing of NDFP consultant Malayao
MANILA, Philippines — Human rights watchdog Amnesty International on Thursday denounced the “cold-blooded murder” of National Democratic Front of the Philippines consultant Randy Malayao.
Malayao, also a columnist for Baguio City-based Northern Dispatch, was gunned down while he was asleep on a bus heading to Cagayan early Wednesday morning.
In a statement, Minar Pimple, AI’s senior director for global operations, said the killing of Malayao is an addition to the list of political activists who have been attacked and killed in the Philippines.
“His killing comes at a time when political activists in the county have become regular targets of violent attacks, and in a climate in which such killings are being normalized under the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte,” Pimple said.
He added: “Alarmingly, ties to leftist or communist groups, perceived or otherwise, have given some an apparent license to kill.”
In a speech in November last year, Duterte said that he would establish an armed civilian group to kill idlers and prospective members of the New People’s Army.
Malayao, who was covered by the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees, acted as one of the spokespersons of the NDFP negotiating panel in Europe. NDFP has long been engaged in peace negotiations with the Philippine government.
AI said that Malayao was among the over 600 individuals that the Department of Justice asked a court to declare as “terrorists.” His name was eventually removed from the list.
“Such attacks are yet another example of how public safety and security in the Philippines are being eroded. The wave of killings must stop. The Philippine authorities must fully investigate the murder of Malayao, as well as the murders of many other activists that have been killed since this administration took power,” Pimple said.
Karapatan hits blame game on the killing of Malayao
Local rights group Karapatan slammed the Philippine National Police for tagging the NPA in the killing of Malayao.
According to a report of GMA News Online citing information from Chief Superintendent Mario Espino, regional director of the PNP in Cagayan Valley, the killing could have been in connection with Malaya being an allegedly former NPA commander.
“Bilang isang mataas na CPP/NPA… dito sa region, pwede rin mga kasamahan niya ang may gawa sa pamamaslang kay Malayao dahil sa paghina ng kanilang puwersa at demoralization sa hanay nila,” Espino was quoted as saying. He did not provide evidence to back his claim.
But Karapatan claimed the PNP is deliberately bringing the NPA into the issue “to muddle the reality that this cold-blooded killing was perpetrated by the government’s death squads."
“This has been the worn-out lines from the playbook of the military during the Macapagal-Arroyo regime, a theory so unbelievable that even then UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions Philip Alston has deemed such excuses unacceptable,” Karapatan said.
It added: “The PNP seems disinterested in a thorough investigation, as it prefers to quickly dismiss the case. At best, it is indicative of the typical dishonest, misleading and deceitful PNP who spins the most ludicrous of stories; at worst, it is a defense mechanism to protect the real perpetrators by laying the blame elsewhere.”
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