Pampanga leader of party-list group gunned down

TARLAC CITY — A 68-year-old leader of the militant party-list group Anakpawis was gunned down in Angeles City, Pampanga on Thursday night, a human rights group said.

Emil Paragas, spokesman of Karapatan, said Victor Concepcion, senior officer of Anakpawis in Pampanga and secretary general of the Aguman Deng Maglalautang Capampangan, was the eighth local activist slain this month and the 18th nationwide since last January.

Paragas said Concepcion was resting at the verandah of his home at L&S Subdivision in Angeles City when he was shot several times.

In Baguio City, meanwhile, Task Force Sanchez still has no substantial leads in the March 9 killing of Bayan Muna’s Ilocos coordinator Romeo Sanchez.

Police have released an artist’s sketch of the gunman who attacked Sanchez while he, along with two companions, was buying ukay-ukay (second-hand) clothes near the city public market.

Sanchez’s companions, Elizabeth Alfiler and Abraham Austin, executed sworn affidavits last Thursday, but both said they failed to see the gunman.

On March 23, militant groups will hold a prayer rally in Mendiola, Manila in what they dubbed as "a day of mourning, protest and solidarity."— With Artemio Dumlao