Militant killed in Sorsogon

SORSOGON CITY – Another militant leader in Sorsogon was shot dead by a lone assailant in front of his house in Barangay San Juan yesterday, police reported.

Willy Jerus, 35, president of the Samahan ng mga Magsasaka sa Sorsogon (Samasor), came under a barrage of fire from a .45 caliber pistol as he stepped out of his house at around 7:20 a.m., said Senior Superintendent Formoso Argarin, the city’s police chief.

Argarin said nine slugs were found at the scene but only five hit Jerus, who was the fifth official of a militant organization killed in the province amid the continued escalation of unsolved killings in the country.

Witnesses’ accounts said the suspect was having breakfast at the mini-restaurant near Jerus’s house. After seeing the victim step out of the front door, he stopped eating and began shooting at Jerus at close range.

The first few shots missed the target and Jerus managed to run a few meters away from the gunman, but fell dead after four more shots hit him, Argarin said.

Jerus was formerly a member of the League of Filipino Students (LFS) in Sorsogon. As he headed Samasor, a militant organization of farmers affiliated with the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP), the victim was supposed to attend a National Coconut Farmers Convention at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City on the day he was killed, but had to beg off due to lack of fare money.

Philippine National Police chief Director General Oscar Calderon ordered Task Force USIG to mobilize investigating units in the Bicol region to assist in tracking down the suspect.

Task Force USIG commander Director Geary Barias meanwhile said forensic experts were examining the nine spent cartridges recovered from the scene and other evidence.

Sorsogon Rep. Francis Escudero condemned the latest killing, which he said was the 49th in the region and the 63rd KMP leader killed nationwide. He added there are now 843 victims of unexplained killings.

"The crime is especially repulsive in that the victim was killed in front of one of his two children. The police should exert all efforts to identify and lock up these cold-blooded killers who have been terrorizing the whole province. That is, if they have any sense of responsibility at all," said Escudero.

Last February, Escudero denounced the police for their failure to arrest the killer of Federico Esclares Jr., president of the Association of Barangay Captains, who was shot dead along with his driver by a lone gunman, who still remains at large.

In relation to this, the now aspiring senator of the Genuine Opposition demanded the relief of police provincial director Joel Regondola and police regional chief Ricardo Padilla.

"The bloodied tracks of the killers lead to the doorsteps of the police, in a manner of speaking. I refuse to believe that the security forces have something to do with the crimes, but the fact that no suspects have been arrested makes that conclusion inevitable." – With Cecille Suerte Felipe, Celsmo Amo