2 left-wing activists killed in Samar, Sorsogon

Two left-wing activitists were gunned down in Eastern Visayas and the Bicol Region, the latest victims in a string of slayings of activists.

Killed were Antonio "TJ" Alde, a Bayan Muna leader in Borongan, Eastern Samar who was at the same time a casual employee of the provincial tourism office, and Maximo Frivaldo, a municipal councilor in the town of Irosin in Sorsogon.

Reports said that three unidentified armed men gunned down Alde yesterday at around 9 a.m. while he was fishing at the Boronggan port area, police said.

The assailants immediately fled using a single motorcycle which was parked some 20 meters away from the crime scene.

Alde, 25, sustained gunshots in the head and back. He was the sixth militant leader killed since last year.

Meanwhile, an unidentified assailant also shot dead the Bayan Muna leader in Irosin town in Sorsogon also yesterday morning.

Frivaldo, 41, was shot at close range outside his house in Barangay San Agustin at around 8 a.m., Irosin town police chief Senior Inspector Dionesio Laceda said.

Laceda said Frivaldo, who was also a municipal councilor of Irosin sustained gunshot wounds in the face and forehead and died on the spot. The assailants also fled the crime scene aboard a motorcycle.

Frivaldo was the municipal chairman of Bayan Muna for the past eight years.

Senior Superintendent Joel Rigondola, Sorsogon police provincial director immediately dispatched a team to track down the assailants.

Frivaldo was the second Bayan Muna member gunned down in Sorsogon. Ricardo Uy, chairman of Bayan Muna in Sorsogon City was also slain by an unidentified assassin in November last year.

Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Arturo Lomibao visited the wake of Uy and ordered the creation of a police task force to find the killers.

Alde was known to be the colleague of the late lawyer Norman Bocar, Eastern Samar Bayan Muna provincial coordinator, who was killed by still unidentified gunmen last Sept.1.

Bocar’s murder case remains unsolved, but the militant and human rights groups pinpointing military as behind the killing.

The Army’s 8th Infantry Division commanding officer Major General Bonifacio Ramos said in a phone interview that accusing the military of the murder of militant leaders is no longer new but accusers must present sufficient evidence to support their claims. – With AP