Hontiveros seeks probe on killing of Red-tagged couple

Senator Risa Hontiveros has called for a Senate investigation into the spate of “unlawful killings in the Philippines,” filing the resolution a few days after the murder of Dr. Mary Rose Sancelan and her husband, Edwin, in Negros Oriental.

In proposed Senate Resolution 599, Hontiveros seeks to attain justice for the Sancelans and other slain victims of unlawful and vigilante killings.

The resolution, which also aims to restore law and order in the country, was co-signed by Senators Frank Drilon, Ralph Recto, Richard Gordon, Nancy Binay, Joel Villanueva, Kiko Pangilinan, and Leila de Lima.

“At a time of the biggest health crisis the country has ever seen, I am alarmed that this anti-communist agenda reigned over the literal health and survival of the Filipino people,” Hontiveros said.

“Dr. Sancelan and her husband are only few of the victims of a failing and senseless red-tagging campaign hellbent on crippling our democracy. This attack is only one of the many horrific killings in the country, legitimized by an administration that has distorted the meaning of human rights,” the senator said.

Hontiveros also spoke out against the vicious and deadly practice of red-tagging individuals.

This comes as Sancelan, the head of the local Inter-Agency Task Force and the sole health doctor in Gihulngan City, was tagged as a member of NPA-Central Negros by KAGUBAK, an anti-communist vigilante group in Negros Oriental.

“I ask everyone, especially our own government officials, to cease all careless and pernicious redtagging of our people. Innocent lives are at stake,” Hontiveros said.

“When you openly vilify and tag civilians as communist rebels, you only lend credence to the suspicion that you have blood on your hands,” she said.

“At the same time, there are also others who were not redtagged but have become victims of these killings. We need to look into this at once,” she added.

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