Task force to probe human rights activist’s slay

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines — A task force has been created to investigate the murder of human rights activist Zara Alvarez in this city on Monday.

City police chief Col. Henry Biñas said they are looking into all angles amid allegations that government forces were behind the killing.

Biñas said probers are looking into a personal grudge or the victim’s affiliation with militant organizations.

The Bacolod city council approved a resolution on Tuesday requesting the local police, Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, National Bureau of Investigation and other law enforcement agencies to conduct an investigation for the early resolution of the case.

An unidentified man shot Alvarez several times on her way home in Barangay Mandalagan.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque denied the government’s involvement in the killings, saying Malacañang joins the nation in denouncing the incidents.

“We are a nation of laws and violence has no place in any civilized society,” Roque said.

However, various militant groups maintained that the government was behind the recent killing of activists.

“Who else was capable of committing such crime under a highly strict community quarantine,” former Anakpawis party-list representative and vice president Ariel Casilao said.

Human rights group Karapatan said state forces are “complicit, if not directly behind” the killing of Alvarez. – Elizabeth Marcelo