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On 30 January 2007 at 10pm, Joseph matunding was shot
by an unidentified man wearing a hat who approached him when
he entered the gate of his home in Barangay manduawak, San
Dionisio, Iloilo. As he fell to the ground, another unidentified man
shot him several times. he died from seven gunshot wounds to his
chest and neck. The police recovered 14 .45 calibre shell casings
at the crime scene. The perpetrators have not been identified.
his wife, Teresia, was also shot in the waist and was taken
to the Sara District hospital for treatment. when she was at the
hospital, on two occasions six unknown persons had come to
see her, intimidating and terrorizing her. On February 1, two
of the unidentified men came to her hospital room at around
1am. Fortunately, when a doctor noticed the men he asked for
identification at which point they immediately left her room. Later
that day at 9am, another four unidentified men came to her room.
when Teresia’s friends and relatives noticed them, they scared
them away by calling the police.
Before he was killed, in December 2006, unorka reported to
the DAR, a government agency responsible for the implementation
of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program, that matunding
and his colleagues had been the object of intimidation. his group
is pursuing claims as beneficiaries for land reform to the land
owned by the wealthy Lopez family. They requested the DAR to
immediately intervene to prevent further intimidation that he
and his colleagues were experiencing. matunding was one of the
farmers receiving serious threats on their lives. A week prior to
the incident, he reported that there were two persons roaming
around his house. The victim had also allegedly been under
intense surveillance by unknown characters for over one year.
The Lopezes, namely Peter Paul Lopez, a former town mayor;
and Bec-bec Lopez, former police chief, also claimed that a
portion of the land had been awarded to them. The land located
in Barangay manduawak is about 84-hectares. matunding’s
group had already obtained the Certificate of Land Ownership
Award from the DAR; however, the Lopez family had yet to turn
over the land to them.
Story 91: Alleged abduction and torture of a young
man by the police
Victim: Mr. Oting Mariano, 21,of Barangay Kadiis, Carmen
municipality, North Cotabato province
Alleged perpetrators:
1. Four unidentified men wearing plain clothes, who came in
a white van with a plate number IUH-168; they are alleged
to be operatives of Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao
Police Regional Office
2. One senior police officer namely Sanchez who brought the
victim to the detention facility on 19 January
article 2 � June-Sept 2012 Vol. 11, No. 2-3
A week prior
to the incident, he
reported that there
were two persons
roaming around his
house. The victim
had also allegedly
been under intense
surveillance.
“
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