Roxas worried Zambo Sur could be “Next Maguindanao”
1 LP supporter slain in new attack in province; 1 LP volunteer leader missing after reported kidnap by armed men
Liberal Party President Senator Mar Roxas today condemned the violence brewing in Zamboanga del Sur that had taken the lives of 15 LP supporters as he insisted President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and DILG Secretary Ronaldo Puno must take direct blame for their inaction on the political violence against the opposition.
One more LP supporter was killed just this morning in Labangan town, increasing the death count to five in the said town alone. The perpetrators were a group of armed men, reportedly including local police forces.
“Are Gloria and Puno waiting for Zamboanga del Sur to become the next Maguindanao? We condemn the violence and the government’s failure to prevent this violence against opposition supporters,” Roxas complained in reference to the massacre last November of opposition supporters in Maguindanao.
Roxas appealed to PNP Director General Jesus Versoza to go to Zamboanga del Sur himself and lead the investigation into the spate of killings of LP supporters and ward leaders in the province that has martyred 15 LP members in the province, six in Labangan town alone, since the start of the campaign last February.
“General Versoza, do not allow your political masters to prevent justice from being carried out. You owe your post to the Filipino people and to our democracy that these killings endanger now,” he said.
The LP supporters were en route to Barangay Langatod on board two trucks as part of their regular rounds to train voters in far-flung barangay on the automated elections when they were blocked by armed men who then ordered them to alight from the trucks and walk back to their homes on foot. The armed men then killed the two supporters and burned the trucks.
“Hindi makakaboto ang mga supporters ng LP hindi dahil ayaw nila kundi dahil tinatakot at pinapatay sila ng mga pulis miso sa Zamboanga del Sur (The LP’s voters cannot vote not because they don’t want to but because they are being killed and harassed by the local police in Zamboanga del Sur),” said Labangan Mayor Abubakar Afdal.
The LP had previously demanded the replacement of the local police chiefs of Zamboanga del Sur following the spate of political killings of the 15 supporters and ward leaders of the party and its candidates opposing the gubernatorial bid of the wife of incumbent Governor Antonio Cerilles since the start of the campaign last February.
