Fish trader slain by 'rebels'

MANILA, Philippines - Four men who claimed to be members of a rebel group based in Central Luzon shot dead a fish trader in Malabon City Monday.

Senior Police Officer 1 Redentor Mantala said Jaytee Ryan Yu, alias Toklat, 28, a resident of Barangay Tanong, died on the spot from three bullet wounds in the head. Yu was talking to a neighbor at around noon when the gunmen – clad in black shirts, denim pants, and baseball caps – approached.

As they passed Yu, two of them pulled out handguns and shot the victim in the back of his head.

Before fleeing, the gunmen left behind several leaflets claiming they were members of Partisano, said to be a rebel group based in Central Luzon headed by a certain Carlos Alejandro.

Mantala said one of the leaflets bore a message saying that Partisano “has stopped the shabu flea market in Malabon.”

The gunmen also accused the victim of being responsible for the proliferation of illegal drugs not only in Malabon City but also in the cities of Caloocan, Navotas and Valenzuela.

Witnesses described the killers to be in their early 20s.

A year ago, Navotas village chairman Edwin Abellana was slain by at least four unidentified gunmen while attending a flag-raising ceremony in his barangay.

The killers also left a message before escaping, claiming to be members of the same rebel group.

Sources, however, said the gunmen were only “hiding behind the rebel group’s shadow.” They said at least three groups of contract killers have lairs in the middle of a shantytown in Barangay Catmon.