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EJKs committee may probe death of volunteer teacher in Davao de Oro

Philippines | National

EJKs committee may probe death of volunteer teacher in Davao de Oro

By Jeffrey Damicog

Department of Justice

The Department of Justice (DOJ)-led inter-agency council on extra-judicial killings (EJKs) has started gathering more information on the death of a volunteer teacher for indigenous people in Davao de Oro.

Justice Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra said “we are gathering more facts from the ground and we will evaluate if the case falls under the ambit of AO 35” (Inter-Agency Committee on Extra-Legal Killings Committee on Extra-Legal Killings, Enforced Disappearances, Torture and Other Grave Violations of the Right to Life, Liberty and Security of Persons).

Last month, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) announced that government forces killed during an encounter volunteer teacher Chad Booc and four members of the communist terrorist group (CTG) during an encounter in Davao de Oro last Feb. 24.

The 10th Infantry Division (ID) Commander MGen. Nolasco Mempin said that members of the CTG were told multiple times “to peacefully surrender to the government” but “they chose to resist to continue the bloodshed that resulted to their demise,"

After the firefight, government forces said they were able to recover an M653 rifle, a caliber .45 pistol, a hand grenade, an anti-personnel mine, assorted food supplies, and personal belongings.

The 10th Infantry Division (ID) said Booc, who graduated cum laude from the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman with a degree of Bachelor of Computer Science is “a known activist and recruiter to the CTG even in his UP days.”

Published reports stated that the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) has issued a statement refuting the claims of the AFP and insisted that no clash with government forces took place.

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