Victim/s: Federico de Leon

** *ANAKPAWIS (“Toiling Masses”) – a Partylist Organization of peasants, workers and urban poor organizations with a Representative at the Philippine House of Representatives

1. Place of Incident: Blas Ople Bypass, Bgy. Bulihan, Malolos, Bulacan, Philippines
2. Date of Incident: 26 October 2006 between 4:30 pm – 5:00 pm
3. Suspected Perpetrators: a male and a female in civilian clothes, suspected to be elements of the 56th Infantry Battalion, Philippine Army
4. Account of Incident:

On October 26, 2005, between 4:30 – 4:45pm Federico de Leon or Ka Pedy brought his common-law-wife, Ester, to the tricycle terminal in Barangay Caingin, Malolos, Bulacan where she sells cigarettes. After that he lined up his tricycle at the terminal queue.

Witnesses say that a man and a woman who arrived earlier were at the food stall next to the terminal and ordered congee, but upon seeing Ka Pedy arrive, they left their barely eaten orders and approached him. They asked him to bring them to Hotel Gatchalian in Barangay Catmon, Malolos, Bulacan, despite the presence of another tricycle cab ahead of Ka Pedy at the terminal queue.

Fifteen minutes after they left, news came to Ester that Ka Pedy had been shot. According to Ester and Ka Pedy’s friends who are also tricycle drivers, Ka Pedy’s body was found near Casa Malolena and Blas Ople ByPass at the boundary of Barangay Catmon and Barangay Bulihan, Malolos City. The victim was found lying on the ground and his two passengers gone. Eyewitnesses, who refused to be identified however, related that after shooting the victim, the two perpetrators rode another van which had been following the tricycle.

The autopsy report revealed that Ka Pedy was shot with a .45 caliber gun from a distance of two feet. The victim suffered three gunshot wounds with one exiting through his thigh. His skull was smashed and was believed to have been hit with a hard object that caused him to fall on the ground before he was shot thrice.

Ka Pedy had long been a transport leader as Chairperson of their tricycle drivers and operators’ association. He led protest actions against the constant increase of oil prices in 2003 and the widespread protest action against the phase-out of two-stroke units of tricycles under the Clean Air Act in their province.

Even after his term as Chairperson of the tricycle drivers and operators’ association, he still continued supporting the local issues of his colleagues, one of which was against the deplorable performance of the Malolos Chief of Police Vicente Bautista, who was eventually relieved of his post.

As Chairperson of *ANAKPAWIS-Bulakan, Ka Pedy was active in supporting the campaigns of the different sectors, particularly that involving the Northrail Project which is currently displacing thousands of urban poor families in the province of Bulacan and other parts of Metro Manila and Luzon.

Ka Pedy had often been called at Camp Alejo Santos by the Philippine National Police-Bulacan Director every time there was a planned mobilization to know of the organization’s plans.

His colleagues together with human rights organizations have reason to believe that his killing is connected with the rash of killings in Central Luzon after the transfer of Major General Jovito Palparan last September, 2005 to the 7th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army, covering the Central Luzon area including Bulacan. The “butcher”-general has been known to make use of death squads to sow fear and liquidate known active leaders of various legitimate people’s organizations.

Ka Pedy’s killing came just hours after the killing of three others in Central Luzon on the same day. The night before, October 25, Central Azucarera de Tarlac Labor Union President and village chief, Ricardo Ramos was shot dead near his house in Barangay (village) Mapalacsiao, Tarlac inside the Hacienda Luisita.

Send letters, emails or fax messages calling for:

1. The immediate formation of an independent fact-finding and investigation team composed of representatives from human rights groups, the Church, local government, and the Commission on Human Rights that will look into the summary execution of Federico de Leon;
2. The arrest and prosecution of the perpetrators of the crime of summary execution;
3. The immediate and proper indemnification of the family/relatives of the victims; and
4. The Philippine Government to be reminded that it is a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and that it is also a party to all the major Human Rights instruments, thus it is bound to observe all of its provisions

President of the Republic

Malacanang Palace,

JP Laurel St., San Miguel

Manila Philippines

Voice: (+632) 564 1451 to 80