Peasant leader gunned down in Compostela Valley

DAVAO CITY—A labor and peasant leader was shot dead by suspected military agents in Maragusan town, Compostela Valley on Thursday, raising to 49 the number of victims of political killings in Southern Mindanao during the Duterte administration, rights groups on Friday said.

Reneboy Magayano, 50, chair of Maragusan Workers’ Association was shot dead by alleged agents of the army’s 66th Infantry Battalion while buying fish at a market in Poblacion village, according to Cristina Palabay, Karapatan secretary general.

Senior Supt. Marvin Pepino, Compostela Valley police chief, confirmed the incident, saying an investigation was now underway to identify and arrest Magayano’s killers.
The victim was also a council member for the militant peasant group Hugpong sa mga Mag-uuma sa Walog Compostela (Union of Farmers in Compostela Valley) or Humawac, Palabay said.

On Tuesday, Toto Lompaodan, a member of Alyansa sa Mag-uuma sa Sidlakang Dabaw (Alliance of Farmers in Eastern Davao) or Almasid, was gunned down while claiming his cash assistance from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in Cateel town, Davao Oriental.

The suspect, according to Palabay, was identified as Dexter Sallian, who was said to be connected with the army’s 67th Infantry Battalion. She did not identify if Sallian was either a soldier or civilian, however.

The military has repeatedly denied any involvement in the killings. Palabay said the latest killings as well as the government’s apparent non-acceptance of recommendations by the United Nations Human Rights Council to address various human rights violations “belie the good grades attained by the Philippines in the UNHRC Universal Periodic Review.”