Another leader of party-list group slain

CAMP VICENTE LIM, Laguna — Another local leader of Anakpawis, a peasant group seeking a congressional seat in the party-list elections, was killed and his wife was seriously wounded when their house in Pagbilao, Quezon was strafed last Thursday night, authorities said.

Roger Perez, Anakpawis coordinator in Pagbilao town, died on the spot. His wife, Tina, secretary-general of the local chapter of Bayan Muna, another party-list group, is in critical condition at the Lucena District Hospital.

Perez was the second Anakpawis leader slain in the past three days. Last Wednesday, Isaias Manalo, Anakpawis coordinator in Mindoro Oriental, was gunned down in Calapan City.

Police said the Perezes were asleep when their house in Barangay Malikboy, Pagbilao town was strafed at about 10 p.m.

Nearly three hours before the attack, the couple met with a Pagbilao mayoral candidate.

That same night, Julian Catausan, 38, an employee of the Pagbilao engineering office, was shot dead by two unidentified men.

Catausan’s live-in partner, Racquel Luce, told investigators that she and her husband were watching television when a man asked for a glass of water. The man left and returned with a companion minutes later, and then shot Catausan in the head.

Party-list Rep. Satur Ocampo, Bayan Muna president, said the attacks appeared to be related to recent allegations by National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales that six left-wing political parties have been channeling funds to the New People’s Army, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines.

Bayan Muna claims it has lost more than 40 members since 2001, when the party-list group won, for the first time, three seats in the House of Representatives.

Lt. Col. Daniel Lucero and Senior Superintendent Joel Goltiao, spokesmen of the Armed Forces and Philippine National Police, respectively, denied that the government was behind the attacks.

"We respect... what they are doing. They are legal organizations," Lucero said, appealing to Bayan Muna to wait for the results of an investigation.

Since the campaign began in mid-December, police said 68 people have been killed in 75 election-related incidents. Goltiao claimed most of the victims were not members of left-leaning parties. — With Mike Frialde