[WAC statement] On Bishop Alberto Ramento's killing
Workers' Assistance Center
05 October 2006
Dear Friends and Colleagues:
We are sending you this letter to ask you in joining us in our time of
mourning and grief on the death of the chair of the board of the
Workers Assistance Center, Inc. - Bishop Alberto Ramento of the
Philippine Independent Church (IFI).
The WAC condemns to the strongest possible term the brutal killing of
our beloved Chairperson. He was with the workers of Cavite in the
struggle for the protection and defense of their rights and welfare
from 1998 until his death.
Bishop Ramento was stabbed to death and was found lying in his church
in Tarlac City in the morning of October 3. He was with the
military's Order of Battle or hit list before he was
brutally-murdered.
Bishop Alberto Ramento, 69 years old, chairperson of the Supreme
Council of Bishops of the PIC, the highest church leader of IFI. He was
a staunch human rights advocate and supporter of the causes of the poor
since the time of Marcos dictatorship.
Before his death, Bishop Ramento has been an active supporter of the
Hacienda Luisita workers in Tarlac who had their strike in 2004, where
seven strikers were killed by military's bullets and several others
followed. The latest is Bishop Ramento himself.
His brutal killing coincided with the time when unions and striking
workers that is being supported by the WAC is severely under attack
also by the shameful connivance of foreign-investors and government's
Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA). (Link to WAC website -
http://www.wacphilippines.com)
WAC firmly believed that Bishop Ramento was murdered because of his
vocal and unyielding political conviction for the poor and oppressed
people. His vocal opposition to the repressive character of the Arroyo
government and his strong criticism to the on-going extra-judicial
killings of activists were the reasons behind his murder. Ironically,
he met his death also in the same way.
Only murderers known to the Arroyo government will have the strong
motive and interest in silencing a true bishop of the people. Because
they can roam the streets freely without any fear of arrests and
criminal responsibility.
Let us all offer our prayers and sympathy to the family, relatives, and
friends he left behind. Let us remember his good deeds to the people
and hope that his death may not be in vain!
Please click this to view an article publish in the Philippine Daily
Inquirer:
http://newsinfo.inq7.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view_article.php?article_id=24660
And this website in Central Luzon news web, the area where he was
murdered:
http://www.gitnangluson.com/
REV. FR. JOSE P. DIZON (sgd.)
Executive Director
Workers Assistance Center, Inc.