Four unidentified bonnet-clad men gunned down a member of a militant group at Brgy. Malusay, Guihulngan town, Oriental Negros, at about 5 p.m. yesterday, its secretary-general claimed.

Fred Caña, Karapatan-Negros secretary-general, confirmed to the DAILY STAR last night the slay of Eladio Dasi-an, 37, at the crossing of Brgy. Malusay, Guihulngan. Dasi-an was on a motorcycle when the four suspects on board an owner-type jeep blocked his way, and peppered him with bullets, Caña said, quoting reports from a certain "Bro. Mayok" of Karapatan-Guihulngan.

Caña was quick to link the murder to what he described as the "death squad" of the Philippine Army, referring to the government-launched "Oplan Bantay Laya" that, he alleged, is on its third phase in the campaign to crush members of progressive and militant groups.

He said three weeks before the incident, Dasi-an had received death threats from an intelligence operative of the Army in the place.

This was direct and verbal threat warning him (Dasi-an) to leave Karapatan, Caña said.

He said that Dasi-an, a bodyguard of a former town mayor, is the 10th militant group member to be murdered in Negros Island since last year.

Caña urged a stop to the killings which he blamed on the administration of President Gloria Arroyo, who recently allocated P1 billion to fund the drive to crush the communist rebels.*GCT

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