Aglipayan bishop slain

ANGELES CITY — The 69-year-old chairman of the supreme council of bishops of Iglesia Filipina Independiente or the Aglipayan Church was stabbed dead by suspected robbers inside his room at the San Sebastian Cathedral in Tarlac City before dawn yesterday.

Senior Superintendent Nicanor Bartolome, Tarlac police director, said Bishop Alberto Ramento, also known to be a human rights activist, had three stab wounds in the back and another two in the chest.

"The motive seems to be plain and simple robbery," Bartolome said, noting that the bishop’s wallet was empty and his room was in disarray.

An aide, Ferrer Carreon, 47, found Ramento lifeless inside his room on the second floor of the cathedral at about 7 a.m.

The militant Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan), however, suspected that the military could be involved in the killing, saying that Ramento was the Tarlac chairman of the human rights group Karapatan and had been active in supporting the rights of Hacienda Luisita workers.

The militant party-list group added that Ramento also chaired the Promotion of Church and People’s Response and was a convenor of various peace advocacy groups.

Bartolome said residents claimed to have heard a commotion inside the bishop’s room at about 4 a.m. when the supposed robbery happened.

"The bishop apparently put up a fight," he said, adding that the robbers were apparently in a hurry because some cash in his room was untouched.

A bloodstained six-inch long knife apparently used in the killing was found in the compound of the cathedral, he said.

But Roman Polintan, Bayan-Central Luzon chairman, doubted if Ramento’s killing was a mere case of robbery.

In a text message to reporters, Polintan condemned the killing, saying, "We attribute this to government security forces."

"Our fear is that this is another (political) killing based on the fact that Bishop Ramento was a staunch defender of people’s rights and welfare," he said, adding that only the government "stands to gain from the killing."

For his part, Karapatan deputy secretary-general Jigs Clamor, said, "We decry and express our outrage over this heinous killing of a peace and human rights advocate."

Bartolome, however, said police investigators were closing in on Ramento’s attackers.

"It seems that only two suspects barged into the victim’s room, but our surveillance of the area where the suspects had apparently fled indicates that more (people) might have been involved in the plot," he said.

Bartolome said the bishop’s killers were apparently after the collections of the Aglipayan church in Ramento’s possession.

Deputy Director Avelino Razon, who heads a police task force investigating killings of activists and journalists, said police will look into all possible motives in Ramento’s killing. — With Ric Sapnu and Cecille Suerte Felipe