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Bohol militant leader critically wounded in slay try


By Kit Bagaipo
Visayas Bureau
Last updated 04:18pm (Mla time) 06/16/2007


TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol -- A single assailant shot and critically wounded Bayan Muna Bohol secretary general Mario Auxillo shortly before midnight Friday at the public market of Bien Unido town in Bohol.

Auxillo, 50, a resident of Barangay (village) Kabiguhan, Trinidad town, had just finished a meeting with local fisherfolk at around 11:30 p.m. when the assailant shot him twice, hitting him in the head and left arm, according to Auxillo's sister, Gregoria.

As of 8 a.m. Saturday, doctors at the Governor Celestino Gallares Memorial Hospital in Tagbilaran City have still to operate on Auxillo, said Gregoria Auxillo Salces.

His condition remained critical as one bullet was still lodged in his jaw, Salces said in an interview.

Auxillo lost his bid for the second district seat in the Bohol provincial board during the last elections.

Bayan-Muna Bohol coordinator John Ruiz III said that since last year, "a smear campaign [was launched] against (Auxillo) by Mata na Bol-anon Movement, believed to be military-backed."

Ruiz said the Mata na Bol-anon Movement has been labeling Auxillo as a manipulator of the people and with connections to the New People's Army (NPA). Leaflets maligning Auxillo were also distributed in Bohol's northern towns, he said.

While the initial police reports revealed that the shooter was a civilian, "a military connection could not be ruled out" as the "massive smear campaign and black propaganda against the victim by military propagandist had put his life under constant threat," Ruiz said.

The Philippine Army's 15th Infantry Batallion allegedly attacked Bayan Muna, local farmers' organization Humabol and Auxillo during a meeting in Trinidad town with rebel returnees, Ruiz said.

Militant group leaders here have reported about "an organized surveillance" against them and some of their members.

Less than a year ago in August 2006, Bayan-Bohol chairman Victor Olayvar was shot dead in Danao town, after meeting with some farmers' groups.


source: Philippine Daily Inquirer
 

 


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