[av_one_full first min_height=” vertical_alignment=” space=” custom_margin=” margin=’0px’ padding=’0px’ border=” border_color=” radius=’0px’ background_color=” src=” background_position=’top left’ background_repeat=’no-repeat’ animation=”]
[av_heading heading=’Karapatan-Negros holds probe on Guihulngan EJKs ‘ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=’30’ subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY RANIE AZUE
[/av_heading]
[av_textblock size=” font_color=” color=”]
Tuesday. September 19, 2017
[/av_textblock]
[av_textblock size=’18’ font_color=” color=”]
BACOLOD City – Karapatan-Negros, together with other human rights activists, progressive groups and nongovernment organizations, led a probe on a series of extrajudicial killings in Guihulngan City on Sept. 14 and 15.
The probe also looked into the delivery of relief goods, free medical services and psycho-social missions to the victims of harassment and threat in the area.
“An atmosphere of fear is clouding over the City of Guihulngan in Negros Oriental,” Clarissa Singson-Dagatan, secretary-general of Karapatan-Negros, described the overall situation of Guihulngan after conducting the two-day fact-finding mission.
The probe focused in Barangay Buenavista, which is three kilometers away from the city, said Dagatan.
Prior to the probe, Dagatan’s group met with Mayor Carlo Jorge Reyes, the Guihulngan police chief, and Philippine National Police-Special Action Force in the area.
“The Mayor cannot assure us our safety but we proceeded,” Singson said.
According to Dagatan, the probe was due to “failure of the police and other state agencies to conduct an investigation on the series of killings in the city.”
Residents, especially those who are members of organized progressive groups, were tagged as accomplices of the killers, claimed Dagatan.
A total of eight members of the local progressive peasant group were murdered two days since the killing of then Guihulngan police chief Superintendent Arnel Arpon, five other police officers and a civilian, according to Dagatan.
The latest was Oscar Asildo Jr., the Department of Education Negros Oriental finance administrative officer, who was affiliated with Bayan Muna.
Asildo was gunned down on Aug. 30 in front of a public school where he had reported./PN
[/av_textblock]
[/av_one_full]
