Baguio City Council condemns Bangit murder 06-07-09

	NORDIS WEEKLY July 9, 2006
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Baguio City Council condemns Bangit murder
BAGUIO CITY (July 6) — The City Council here on Monday, July 3, recognized the valuable effort of a Kalinga pangat (peace pact holder) in local peace making and governance among the Cordillera tribes and condemned his senseless killing last month in Echague, Isabela. Through a resolution, the council strongly “condemns the senseless killing of Mr. Rafael Markus Bangit,” a coordinator of the elders’ desk of the Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA) and also the Bodong Pongors Organization, now the Bodong Peoples’ Organization (BPO), a federation of Cordillera tribal elders affiliated with the CPA. The council resolution called Bangit’s murder a “senseless killing”, owing to the fact that Bangit was a peacemaker not only in Kalinga but also in the entire Cordillera region, said Rondez in an interview after the council session. In Resolution PR 109-06 introduced by Councilor Perlita L. Chan-Rondez and endorsed by the council committee on human rights, justice, public protection and safety, peace and order headed by Councilor Jose Molintas, the council said that “the never-ending killing of activists and innocent civilians is alarming whereby curtailing and threatening our democratic rights in the Philippines.” “I heard that Markus was a tribal leader in Kalinga, despite his age,” Rondez said in an interview after the council session. Bangit was born on October 24, 1959. She explained that “The never-ending killing of activists and innocent civilians is alarming whereby curtailing and threatening our democratic rights in the Philippines.” Bangit worked in the Baguio-based CPA regional office since August 2004 up to the time a still unidentified assassin shot him with another passenger in June. Bangit was shot to death by unidentified armed men in a van, who had been tailing them from Tabuk, in Echague, Isabela on June 8. After dinner in a restaurant in San Isidro , still unidentified gunman shot Bangit, who sustained four fatal wounds. School principal Mrs. Gloria Casuga, a passenger in the same bus screamed but was also shot by the culprit. Bangit was a peace pact holder for the Tomiangan -Dangtalan tribal accord in Kalinga. As a young peace pact holder, he had been instrumental in restoring tribal conflicts among different tribes in the bodong practicing areas in the Cordillera. His colleagues from the BPO claimed that he is a loss among the few who are genuinely concerned with establishing peace in the region. As of the present, police investigating the Bangit-Casuga killings had not released an update about the culprits. Last year, the city council also adopted a resolution condemning the killing of Bayan Muna Ilocos region coordinator Romeo Sanchez in one of the busy city market here. # Arthur L. Allad-iw and Lyn V. Ramo for NORDIS Post your comments, reactions to this article
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	NORDIS WEEKLY July 9, 2006
Home \| To bottom	Previous \| Next
Baguio City Council condemns Bangit murder
BAGUIO CITY (July 6) — The City Council here on Monday, July 3, recognized the valuable effort of a Kalinga pangat (peace pact holder) in local peace making and governance among the Cordillera tribes and condemned his senseless killing last month in Echague, Isabela. Through a resolution, the council strongly “condemns the senseless killing of Mr. Rafael Markus Bangit,” a coordinator of the elders’ desk of the Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA) and also the Bodong Pongors Organization, now the Bodong Peoples’ Organization (BPO), a federation of Cordillera tribal elders affiliated with the CPA. The council resolution called Bangit’s murder a “senseless killing”, owing to the fact that Bangit was a peacemaker not only in Kalinga but also in the entire Cordillera region, said Rondez in an interview after the council session. In Resolution PR 109-06 introduced by Councilor Perlita L. Chan-Rondez and endorsed by the council committee on human rights, justice, public protection and safety, peace and order headed by Councilor Jose Molintas, the council said that “the never-ending killing of activists and innocent civilians is alarming whereby curtailing and threatening our democratic rights in the Philippines.” “I heard that Markus was a tribal leader in Kalinga, despite his age,” Rondez said in an interview after the council session. Bangit was born on October 24, 1959. She explained that “The never-ending killing of activists and innocent civilians is alarming whereby curtailing and threatening our democratic rights in the Philippines.” Bangit worked in the Baguio-based CPA regional office since August 2004 up to the time a still unidentified assassin shot him with another passenger in June. Bangit was shot to death by unidentified armed men in a van, who had been tailing them from Tabuk, in Echague, Isabela on June 8. After dinner in a restaurant in San Isidro , still unidentified gunman shot Bangit, who sustained four fatal wounds. School principal Mrs. Gloria Casuga, a passenger in the same bus screamed but was also shot by the culprit. Bangit was a peace pact holder for the Tomiangan -Dangtalan tribal accord in Kalinga. As a young peace pact holder, he had been instrumental in restoring tribal conflicts among different tribes in the bodong practicing areas in the Cordillera. His colleagues from the BPO claimed that he is a loss among the few who are genuinely concerned with establishing peace in the region. As of the present, police investigating the Bangit-Casuga killings had not released an update about the culprits. Last year, the city council also adopted a resolution condemning the killing of Bayan Muna Ilocos region coordinator Romeo Sanchez in one of the busy city market here. # Arthur L. Allad-iw and Lyn V. Ramo for NORDIS Post your comments, reactions to this article
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