PESANTE BULETIN

July 16, 201

PESANTE-USA CONDEMNS EXTRA JUDICIALS KILLINGS UNDER P-NOY REGIME

Los Angeles-- The Philippine Peasant Support Network (Pesante-USA), a human rights, environmental and a peasant advocacy group based in Los Angeles condemns the latest rounds of extra-judicial killings under the new Aquino III regime.

At the the same time, Pesante -USA supports Anakpawis Party-list Representative Rafael Mariano call to President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III to make a “decisive action” against the military in connection to the killing of a peasant leader in Nueva Ecija.

Pesante learned that seventy-eight-year old Pascual Guevarra was shot dead by a lone gunman on Friday.Guevarra was head of the local Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Association and the Alyansa ng mga Magbubukid na Nagkakaisa.

ANAKPAWIS Mariano is holding accountable the military for the death of Guevarra.He alleged the killing is “obviously related to their struggle to own the more than 3,100 hectares of lands inside the Fort Magsaysay military reservation in Nueva Ecija.”

Mariano said; “We demand concrete and decisive action from the President and commander-in-chief himself. Heads should roll in the military, particularly the 7th Infantry Division stationed in Fort Magsaysay who is now acting as the landlord in the area.”

“Mr. Aquino should immediately act on Ka Pascual’s killing and stop the military from evicting farmers inside the Fort Magsaysay Military Reservation. It was during his mother’s term when the so-called transfer of the lands to farmers was initiated,” Mariano added.

Guevarra’s death one the latest case of extrajudicial killing under the Aquino administration.

Fernando Baldomero, a Bayan Muna coordinator in Aklan, was shot dead in front of his house on July 5.

In a separate press statement however, Lt. Col. Roger Mesias said the military has nothing to do with the incident. Mesias is spokesman of the 7th Infantry Division

“We are not involved in that. It’s a mere rivalry between two factions which is the angle that is coming out…Based on the initial investigation, this is related to rivalry on land and we are looking into it in coordination with the Philippine National Police,” he said.