Land row eyed in killing of Cagayan militant

TUGUEGARAO CITY, Cagayan — Authorities here are looking into the angle of land dispute as a possible motive behind last Monday’s slaying of another key leader here of the militant Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas in remote Gonzaga town. Meanwhile, various militant groups here led by Karapatan denounced the death of Anthony Licyayo, head of the KMP-affiliated Caguimungan farmers group, saying this was a futile attempt by the Arroyo government to stifle the voice of militant opposition to her administration.

According to Senior Superintendent James Melad, provincial police director, the possibility of the land dispute angle came out as investigators continued their probe of the killing of Licyayo, 38, who was gunned down by at least two still unidentified suspects in Gonzaga town around 8:30 a.m. last Monday.

Salvador del Pueblo, spokesman of the National Democratic Front in Cagayan Valley said that the slaying of Licyayo and the continued killing of other activists was "the height of desperation, terrorism and corruption in the US-Arroyo administration." According to Del Pueblo, the "ruthless and cruel" killings are part of the government’s adoption of the Benning Doctrine which was used during the Vietnam War, "at the instigation of the Central Intelligence Agency of America and the director of the Cabinet Oversight Committee on Internal Security (by) the Arroyo regime and its death and arson squads."

Licyayo, according to the militant groups, was the 57th KMP member, or among the 791 activists who were victims of extra judicial killings since President Arroyo took over the helm of government in 2001. Melad said that Licyayo, who hails from Nueva Vizcaya but already a resident of Gonzaga town here, was walking home with his son when he was shot dead at sitio Capadeco, barangay Cabiruan in Gonzaga by still unidentified gunmen who suddenly emerged from a cogon area.

Meanwhile, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director Oscar Calderon ordered the administrative relief of a police chief in Cagayan for the killing of Licyayo in his area of responsibility on Monday morning.

Calderon said Inspector Rogelio Caronan, chief of the Gonzaga Police, has been placed under administrative relief for failure to stop the killing of peasant leader Anthony Licyayo in Sitio Capadeco, Barangay Cabiroan, Gonzaga, Cagayan on Nov. 27. The PNP chief has imposed the one-strike policy on police commanders who would fail to stop militant killings, as he assured the family of the victims of swift police action to solve the case and arrest the perpetrators.

"We will give police protection for the Licyayos to allay their apprehensions of further violence," he added.

Moreover, Interior and Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno earlier said the relief of the police commanders would prove that the government is taking action on the media and militant killings.

"This will emphasize that there is no complicity here. We are punishing our people kahit na wala silang kasalanan. This does not mean involved sila sa killing, but because they failed to stop the killing," Puno added.

In his report to Calderon, Chief Superintendent Jefferson Soriano, director of Cagayan Valley Region 2, Caronan will undergo investigation for alleged neglect of duty in line with the policy of the Chief PNP on local police commanders who will fail to act decisively to cases of slain activists and journalists.