Activist shot dead in Aurora, says Bayan Muna

CLARK FREEPORT, Pampanga, Philippines – Amid calls for President Aquino to create a presidential commission against political killings and related concerns, another activist was reported to have been shot dead in Aurora province Saturday night.

In a text message to The STAR, Bayan Muna-Central Luzon said one of its members and convenors, a certain Walso Palispis, was gunned down, although details about the incident were not immediately available.

Activists counted Palispis as the 78th victim of alleged political killings under the Aquino administration. For Bayan Muna, he was its fourth members slain in Central Luzon.

Amnesty International earlier called for the creation of a “presidential accountability commission” on political killings, enforced disappearances and torture, in time for President Aquino’s State of the Nation Address.

Last month, representatives from 69 countries at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland expressed concern over the extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and torture in the Philippines.

Amnesty International, in an 18-page report entitled “Progress, Stagnation, Regression? The State of Human Rights in the Philippines under Aquino,” said the Aquino administration has so far “failed to establish accountability over the state security forces, including paramilitary groups.”

It said it “has not made enough progress in disbanding and disarming private armies, and in ensuring justice for victims of human rights violations.”