Dumaguete City—A former mayor, his cousin, a councilor, and a barangay captain were killed in two separate shooting incidents in Ayungon town and Canlaon City in Negros Oriental early Saturday.
Amid the sketchy reports, militant groups jumped into the fray and denounced what they called “extrajudicial killings,” citing unnamed witnesses.
The Negros Oriental Provincial Police Office identified the victims as former Ayungon mayor Edsel Gimang Enardecido, 60; his cousin, Leo Enardecido, 45; Canlaon City Councilor Ramon Jalandoni, 65, of Barangay Panubigan; and Barangay Captain Ernesto Posadas of Panubigan, Canlaon City.
The first shooting incident took place in Canlaon City at around 12:14 a.m. when unidentified armed men, believed to be members of the New People’s Army (NPA), barged into the house of Jalandoni and shot him dead.
The gunmen marked Jalandoni’s car and a wall of his house with “Mabuhay ang NPA… Ibagsak si Duterte (Long live the NPA… Down with Duterte)”.
Some 26 minutes later, at about 12:40 a.m., unidentified armed men also forced their way into the house of Posadas and gunned him down. The suspects also wrote “Mabuhay ang NPA” on a wall of the victim’s house before leaving in a white van.
Police investigators in Canlaon City believed gunmen from the same group killed both Canlaon officials based on the pattern of the crimes.
Meanwhile in Ayungon, an initial police report said unidentified armed men entered the house of former mayor Enardecido in Barangay Tampocon I at about r2:30 a.m. and shot him dead. His cousin, Leo Enardecido was killed in that attack.
Police said 15 people have been killed in different parts of Negros Oriental in the past two days.
The Philippine National Police is yet to ascertain whether all the shooting incidents are related.
In a statement, the Alliance of Concerned Teacher Philippines condemned the recent spate of extrajudicial killings (EJKs) in Negros Oriental, which took 13 lives in the span of four days. Among those murdered were a public school Principal and a DepEd school division officer, it said.
‘In recent months, we have seen an alarming rise in the number of killings in the Negros Island. Since the implementation of Duterte’s Memorandum 32 in November 2018 which deployed more military troops in the island supposedly to “suppress lawless violance”, 36 has already been murdered, hundreds others detained, thousands harassed—all with impunity, ACT said. “ Most of the victims are toiling farmers who are struggling due to landlessness. Other victims include human rights lawyers, and now education workers. Even a one year old child was not spared when the assassins came for the infant’s father.”
The Children’s Rehabilitation Center added its voice to the clamor for justice.
“On July 25, 2019, a child is among the seven Negrenses who were killed in a series of extrajudicial killings in Negros Oriental,” CRC said. Marlon Ocampo and his child were killed in Sta. Catalina, Negros Oriental, while his wife and another unnamed child sustained severe injuries.
CRCsaid it was gravely alarmed that in a week, a total of 8 victims were killed in different incidents including the murder of Atty. Anthony Trinidad who was killed on July 23, 2019. All killing incidents have peculiar similarities by the technique and manner. Based on accounts from witnesses and police reports, alleged gunmen ambushed or shot the victims “tokhang-style.”