An activist was killed by police operatives in Iriga City, Camarines Sur on January 6, a human rights group said on Monday.
Karapatan identified the victim as Aldrin Enriquez, a member of the Camarines Sur People’s Organization (CSPO), an affiliate of its Bicol chapter.
The group said police forcibly entered the house of Enriquez and shot him after he was handcuffed which caused his instantaneous death.
“There seems to be no end in sight for the killing spree of human rights defenders,” Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay said.
According to Karapatan, the death of Enriquez came a week after peasant organizer Lorenzo Paña was killed by unknown gunmen in Balilihan, Bohol. Both of them were victims of red-tagging and extrajudicial killing, it said.
“We’ve seen these killings before — where activists are red-tagged and vilified as ‘terrorists’ or ‘terrorist sympathizers’ before they’re just suddenly gunned down by unidentified gunmen or shot dead inside their own houses during police operations for allegedly fighting back and resisting arrest,” Palabay noted.
Police claimed Enriquez, who was tagged as a member of the New People’s Army (NPA), died during a shootout with authorities after he tried to escape and fought back in Barangay Sagrada.
The operatives had come to the area to serve a warrant of arrest for the slain activist for attempted murder.
Karapatan called for justice for the two activists as it mourned their brutal deaths.