DAVAO City — The human rights group Karapatan here said they recorded the 55th case of political killing in the region two days after President Rodrigo Duterte formally ended the talks with the communists.
Jay Apiag, secretary general of Karapatan in Southern Mindanao Region, said a member and campaigner of progressive partylist, Anakpawis, was shot dead by motorcycleiding hitmen in Barangay Mandug here Saturday night.
Apiag said 64-year-old Apolonio Maranan sustained multiple gunshots after he was attacked at DDF Village around 7:49 pm.
“He told his wife that he will just buy food for dinner outside. But five minutes later, the wife heard a series of gunfire,” Apiag added.
Apiag said Maranan’s wife asked their son to check on him and he was found lifeless on the street. Maranan’s killing is the 55th case tallied by Karapatan in Davao region since July 2016 and the first case since Duterte officially terminated the peace negotiations.
Maranan’s wife recounted that her husband told her about some men who talked to him and identified themselves as intelligence assets of the military.
“According to the wife, the men told Apolonio that they knew him, that they have heard of his name and asked him if he has seen his comrades in the New People’s Army (NPA),” he said.
Apiag said Maranan was also told that if his “comrades want to surrender,” he should refer them to the intelligence group. However, Apiag said the wife did not told him when the threat happened. He said that it was “just this year.”
Meanwhile, Police Senior Insp. Teresita Gaspan, spokesperson of the Davao City Police Office (DCPO) said their investigation on the killing of Maranan is still ongoing.
She said the police have not yet established the motive behind the killing. (davaotoday.com)
