Bayan set to file charges vs MMDA chief, vendor killer

The militant group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) is set to file murder charges against Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Bayani Fernando and a policeman for the death of a vendor in Makati City last week.

Bayan National Capital Region spokesman Ron Hubbard said the charges will be filed at the Makati Regional Trial Court on Monday or Tuesday.

"As the mastermind of this atrocity, he (Fernando) must be held liable and accountable for the action of the police officer," Hubbard said.

In a rally staged at the MMDA office in Barangay Guadalupe Nuevo, Makati City yesterday, members of Bayan, vendors’ groups and the family of slain vendor Iladio Tuacar, displayed the body of the victim while demanding justice.

Delia Tuacar, wife of the victim, denounced the manner by which the law was served during the incident in Magallanes, Makati City.

"What he is doing is not right. Why is the law being enforced in this manner?" Delia said.

Based on the accounts of the victim’s companions, Tuacar was shot in the back by Traffic Enforcement Group member SPO2 Sabado Pujeda.

The account of the incident contradicts that of Pujeda who claimed he was fired upon by Tuacar during the clearing operation.

The police officer claimed he shot Tuacar in self-defense after being shot at twice by the vendor.

Investigators from the Makati police are still baffled as to how Tuacar managed to own a gun with a license to carry from the Philippine National Police.

MMDA operatives maintained that the license had already expired while the victim’s family claimed that it was recently renewed.

MMDA Deputy Chairman Cesar Lacuna said yesterday the agency is 100 percent behind Pujeda, saying he was merely performing his duty during the incident.

Lacuna argued that members of the PNP who accompany MMDA operatives during clearing operations are only meant to ensure peace and order.

"Our men are directed to practice maximum tolerance during the operations and the police remain at the sidelines to maintain peace and order," he said.

Lacuna welcomed the plan of militant groups to file charges against Fernando and the MMDA, saying the court should be the one to settle the issue.

Hubbard said all affected parties will intensify mass actions "until such time that Bayani Fernando and President Arroyo feel the mounting anger of the starving people."

He also quoted the victim’s wife as saying that if she does not get justice from the MMDA she will turn to the New People’s Army for assistance.

A major rally has been set for Oct. 10, the end of the 30-day moratorium period issued by Fernando for the vendors to voluntarily move out of the sidewalks.

Tuacar will be buried today at a cemetery in Bagbag, Novaliches, Quezon City.