Abducted activist found dead

ANGELES CITY — A leader of a militant fishermen’s group, who was abducted by suspected military men last Aug. 31, was found dead with at least three gunshot wounds in Calumpit, Bulacan last Thursday morning.

PO1 Danilo Gatchalian, of the Calumpit police, said the victim, Napoleon Bautista, 48, leader of the Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) in Hagonoy, Bulacan, had two bullet wounds in the head and another in the back.

Bautista, according to Gatchalian, was apparently shot at close range since the bullets went through his body, and tied with wires on the hands and feet as marks indicated.

Roman Polintan, chairman of the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) in Central Luzon, said Bautista was one of the survivors of the so-called Mendiola massacre in 1987 during the administration of former President Corazon Aquino.

Polintan said Bautista and his wife, Ofelia, were forcibly taken by suspected military men in Barangay San Roque, Hagonoy town last Aug. 31.

Ofelia was later released, but only after she was allegedly tortured and questioned on her husband’s purported ties with the New People’s Army (NPA).

As in other "political killings" in the region, Bayan officials again blamed the Army’s 7th Infantry Division, led by Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan, for Bautista’s death.

But Capt. Wilfredo Martin, Palparan’s spokesman, said, "It is unfair for them to instantly accuse the military in the incident."

"With Gen. Palparan retiring (on Sept. 11), they (militants) are likely to put any blame on him even without any investigation yet," he said.

Martin urged the militant groups to file cases in court if they have evidence that the military was involved in Bautista’s killing.

He said the militants "should first allow the police to investigate the incident" before they make any accusations.