UA Date: 2 March 2007
UA Title: Provincial Coordinator of Anakpawis (Toiling Masses) Party List gunned down in Digos City, Davao del Sur, Philippines
UA Case: Assassination
Victim/s: Renato "Atong" Torrecampo Pacaide
· 53 years old, married with 3 children
· Male
· A resident of Digos City, Davao del Sur
· Secretary General, Nagkahiusang Mag-uuma sa Davao del Sur (NAMADDS) "United Farmers of Davao del Sur"
· Provincial Chairperson, Anakpawis "Toiling Masses" Davao del Sur, Philippines
Place of Incident: along Rizal Avenue corner Lim Street, Digos City, Davao del Sur, Philippines
Date of Incident: 2 March 2007, at around 10:45 in the morning
Alleged Perpetrators: two unidentified armed men on board a red DT Yamaha motorcycle believed to be
members of a military "death squad"
Account of Incident –
At around 10:45 in the morning, Renato T. Pacaide was crossing Rizal Avenue towards Lim Street on his way to the NAMADDS office when a red DT Yamaha motorcycle with two men on board stopped. One of the men shot Renato. He tried to run away from his assailants but they were able to catch up with him and finished him off by shooting him on the head. He sustained four gunshot wounds.
Witnesses said that the driver of the motorcycle was wearing a ski mask but the triggerman did not have any covering on his face. He reportedly used a .45 caliber pistol with a "silencer".
Atong, as peers and associates fondly called him, was a vocal critic of the Macapagal-Arroyo administration and a well-known political activist in Davao del Sur.
As the Secretary General of NAMADDS, he was active in the struggle on issues confronting the Davao del Sur farmers such as mining and land grabbing in the guise of so-called development projects.
He was also the Provincial Coordinator of Anakpawis "Toiling Masses" – a duly accredited national political party that promotes and advances the patriotic and democratic aspirations of the marginalized sectors of workers, peasants, fisher folk and other rural and urban poor.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Send letters, emails or fax messages calling for:
1. The immediate formation of an independent fact-finding and investigation team composed of representatives from human rights groups, the Church, local government, and the Commission on Human Rights that will look into the summary execution of Renato Torrecampo Pacaide.
2. The arrest and prosecution of the perpetrators of the crime/s of summary execution
3. The immediate and proper indemnification of the victims; and
4. The Philippine Government to be reminded that it is a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and that it is also a party to all the major Human Rights instruments, thus it is bound to observe all of these instruments' provisions.
You may send your communications to:
H.E. Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo
President of the Republic
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Manila Philippines
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E. de los Santos Avenue
Quezon City
Voice: +63(2) 911-9281 / 911-0488
Fax: +63(2) 911 6213
osnd@philonline.com
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Raul M. Gonzalez
Secretary, Department of Justice
Padre Faura St., Manila
Direct Line 521-8344; 5213721
Trunk line 523-84-81 loc.214
Fax: (+632) 521-1614
Email sad@doj.gov.ph
Hon.
Purificacion V. Quisumbing
Chairperson, Commission on Human Rights
SAAC Bldg., UP Complex
Commonwealth Avenue
Diliman, Quezon City
Philippines
Fax: (+632) 929 0102
Email: drpvq@chr.gov.ph
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