Bayan Muna leader slain in Batangas

PADRE GARCIA, Batangas — The municipal coordinator here of the militant party-list group Bayan Muna was gunned down by a motorcycle-riding assassin in front of his swine-weighing station Wednesday afternoon, police said.

Chief Inspector Isagani Fetizanan, municipal police chief, said the victim, Andrew Dimaculangan, 36, was shot in the head with a caliber .45 pistol at about 1 p.m. in front of his establishment in Barangay Banaba. 

Fetizanan, in a cellular phone interview, initially identified the victim as one Celso Dimaculangan and denied that he belonged to Bayan Muna.

However, Oscar Lapida Jr., media information officer of Bayan Muna-Southern Tagalog, later confirmed to The STAR that the victim was Andrew Dimaculangan, the coordinator of Bayan Muna in this municipality.

When confronted by reporters, Fetizanan eventually admitted that Andrew and Celso were one and the same person.

"Tinatawag din kasing Celso yan dito sa Padre Garcia kaya yon ang una kong ibinigay na pangalan (He was also called Celso here in Padre Garcia so that was the name I initially gave to you)," he said.

Lapida reacted negatively to initial reports that the police had denied that Dimaculangan was an active Bayan Muna member.

"Bakit nila idine-deny na miyembro siya ng Bayan Muna? Para hindi na ikober ng media at mapagtakpan ang kaso (Why would they deny that he was a Bayan Muna member? So the media would not cover the case and they could cover it up)?" he said.

Police probers said Dimaculangan was charged as an accessory to a murder in 2002. Lapida, however, denied this.

"Lahat naman ng aming miyembro ay idinadawit nila sa mga kaso kapag hindi nila (police and military) mahuli ang mga salarin (They would implicate our members when they fail to arrest the perpetrators)," Lapida said.

Lapida recalled that Dimaculangan was charged as an accessory to a murder when he allegedly acted as a lookout when a supposed New People’s Army (NPA) hit man killed someone in 2002. He, however, could not give more details. 

In a statement, Bayan Muna-Southern Tagalog described Dimaculangan’s killing as a "clear picture of (President) Arroyo’s all-out war against militant leaders." 

"We urge everyone to fight for life, defeat the state terrorism and struggle, (and) work together to stop the insanity of this regime," Lapida said.

Senior Superintendent Francisco Don Montenegro, Batangas police director, has ordered an in-depth investigation into Dimaculangan’s killing.