Stabbing witness
hacked to death
COPS EYEING RETALIATION

A 24-year-old man was stabbed and hacked dead by unidentified persons in a vacant lot at Gardenville Subdivision, Brgy. Tangub, Bacolod City, at dawn yesterday.

Found dead was John Niño Agravante who sustained multiple stab and hack wounds allegedly inflicted by at least two persons, SPO2 Cesar del Carmen, Police Station 8 officer-in-charge, told the DAILY STAR. Del Carmen said they are eyeing retaliation as the motive, because Agravante stood as a witness in a stabbing incident at Ramylu Village, Brgy. Tangub, Bacolod City at about 1 a.m. on Feb 25.

Police Station 8 operatives are still conducting a hot-pursuit operation on Agravante's assailants, whose names are being withheld.

On Tuesday, Jerry Soriano Casquete, 23, was also stabbed dead by his neighbor Marty Templatora Moldes, 18 in Purok 6, Magsungay, Brgy. Singcang-Airport, Bacolod City, at about 2 a.m.., police reports said. Del Carmen said they are preparing murder charges against Moldes who is now detained in the lock-up cell of Police Station 8.*DMG

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'NPA has no
controlled areas'

There is no such thing as controlled areas of the New People's Army in Negros, Lt. Col. Jess Manangquil, 11th Infantry Battalion commanding officer, said as he called on candidates for the May 14 elections not to be intimidated by threats of insurgents to bar them from campaigning in the so-called "red zones", if they fail to pay revolutionary taxes.

Manangquil said they are conducting military operations without let-up in central Negros, to keep the rebels always on the run. He also called on politicians to coordinate with them if the insurgents try to reach out to them for negotiations on campaign permits.

Of the 600 barangays in Negros Occidental, the police have categorized 72 as insurgency-affected areas. Aside from the permit-to-campaign fees on politicians, Manangquil said they have also discovered a new "modus operandi" of the rebels who negotiate with politicians, assuring them of "controlled votes" for a certain amount.

In a statement, PNP chief Oscar Calderon said politicians who "donated" to the coffers of the enemies of the state will face criminal charges for disloyalty to the government, which is punishable under the Revised Penal Code, and as co-conspirators in the crime of rebellion.

Calderon said he will ask the Comelec to disqualify candidates found liable for providing direct support to the communist movement. "These candidates do not deserve the mandate of the people because their loyalty to our country and the Constitution is highly questionable", he added. PNP spokesman Samuel Pagdilao said the PNP is intensifying the crackdown against extortion activities of the New People's Army, particularly the so-called "permit to campaign" obtained through threats from some candidates.*GPB

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BAYAN hits passage
of anti-terrorism law

The Bagong Alyansang Makabayan-Negros denounced the signing of the anti-terrorism law by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Tuesday.

With the signing, the ingredients for martial rule or emergency rule are complete, Bayan secretary-general Felipe Levy Gelle Jr. said in a press statement.

The bill was passed by the Congress through a special session last month.

The group said in their press release that "The building blocks of martial law are here. Widespread political killings, the militarization of Metro Manila, and now a law that can violate people's right to privacy, movement, security of person and political affiliation." It said the law would cover even those groups engaged in legitimate forms of dissent. "Who will prevent the Arroyo administration from using this law to drive legal activists under ground? Can the administration give a guarantee that this won't happen?," the press release said.

The group added that Arroyo has remained deaf to calls by civil libertarians against approving the terror law and followed the impositions of the United States and the urging local militarists who are hell-bent on using this terror law to curtain human rights and people's resistance.

Bayan-Negros said is also joining the women's sector in protesting the law, the press release added.*

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