Justice for Rev. Raul Domingo!

September 4, 2005

STOP POLITICAL KILLINGS! JUSTICE FOR REV. RAUL DOMINGO AND ALL VICTIMS OF STATE REPRESSION! OUST THE FASCIST AND FRAUDULENT ARROYO REGIME!

TWO WEEKS AFTER HE WAS SHOT BY TWO SUSPECTED MILITARY AGENTS, REV. RAUL DOMINGO PASSED AWAY THIS MORNING, SEPTEMBER 4, 2005 AT THE PHILLIPINE LUNG CENTER. Last August 20, he was shot four times by two men riding in motorcycle in Barangay San Jose, Puerto Prinsesa City, Palawan. From the provincial hospital, he was brought to Manila where doctors tried hard to stabilize his condition. But his lung was badly hit by his assassins. He fell into coma then finally passed away this morning.

We in the Kapatirang Simbahan para sa Bayan (Kasimbayan) and Promotion of Church People's Response (PCPR) condemn in strongest terms the endless and ruthless wave of political killings targeting human rights workers and peace activists including faithful church workers who live out the prophetic mission and ministry of the church. We join the wife and five children of Rev. Domingo in demanding justice and immediate end to the wave of political killings under the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo administration.

Arroyo will fly to New York next week to represent the Philippines in the United Nations (UN) gathering. We urge Filipinos and all concerned citizens to stage protest rallies to expose and oppose the Arroyo regime's brutal policy of repression and gross human rights violations. With the death of the impeachment complaint against Arroyo, we demand more than ever that this fraudulent and fascist president must be ousted, arrested and prosecuted for high crimes of graft, corruption and systematic killings in the Philippines.

Under Arroyo, it is deplorable that aside from being listed as one of the "most dangerous place for journalists," our country has become one of the most dangerous place for activist priests and pastors, peasant and labor leaders, lawyers and all activist citizens perceived to be enemies of the state. Despite urgent calls from the Filipino people and the international community to stop the political repression, GMA turned deaf to the cries of poor mothers, widows, children and all the people seeking justice for the victims of human rights violations.

We mourn the death of another prophet who, like the late Rev. Edison Lapuz, Joel Baclao, Fr. William Tadena and others was brutally silenced by the state. Rev. Domingo was a dedicated pastor of the United Church of the Philippines (UCCP). As Key Minister of the Palawan Associate Conference (PAC) -District II, he was active in the life of the church especially in the PAC- Church Workers Organization and Christian Witness and Service (CWS) program of the UCCP. As an activist in the promotion of human rights and social justice, he served as a dedicated leader of the provincial chapter of the human rights alliance (KARAPATAN), KASIMBAYAN and the multi-sectoral alliance Bagong Alyansang Makabayan. For all his social involvements, especially in denouncing military abuses and large-scale mining in the Southern Tagalog region, Rev. Domingo became a victim of grave threats and harassment in the last several years before he was shot on August 20.

Ms Norma Dollaga
General Secretary
Kapatirang Simbahan para sa Bayan (Kasimbayan)

Fr. Jerry Sabado, OCarm
National Council Member
Promotion of Church People's Response (PCPR)

Contact: 4107623