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A Philippine doctor who led her community’s response to the coronavirus pandemic was killed along with her husband in Negros, a central Philippine island that has become the epicenter of targeted killings of activists, land rights defenders and other critics of the government.
Dr. Mary Rose Sancelan and her husband Edwin were driving home Tuesday afternoon when unidentified gunmen shot them multiple times in Guihulngan city, according to local media reports.
The attackers fled on motorcycles and the couple, who had suffered multiple gunshot wounds, were taken to the nearest hospital. But they were pronounced dead upon arrival.
According to local media reports, the police recovered at least 15 shell casings from the scene.
Until her death, Sancelan was the head of the Guihulngan Interagency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, which manages the government’s response against COVID-19. She was also the only doctor working in Guihulngan, a city of more than 100,000 inhabitants.
In a statement Wednesday, the Guihulngan government said it “is reeling from the loss of a courageous and dedicated striker.”
“We are confused and shocked by this painful fate that befalls our fellow public servants.”
‘Red labeling’
According to the rights group Karapatan, Sancelan was at the top of a list of goals drawn up by an anti-communist militia group called Kagubak. At least five other people on the list, including an activist and a human rights lawyer, were also killed in 2018 and 2019.
Cristina Palabay, the secretary general of Karapatan, denounced the latest killings as “deplorable”, linking them to the broader government practice of “red-labeling” or labeling activists and other critics as communists.
Since peace talks between the government and communist rebels broke down in late 2017, President Rodrigo Duterte has stepped up criticism of the group, which has been waging nearly half a century of armed rebellion that has killed tens of thousands of people. .
The New People’s Army of the Philippines has waged an armed struggle for half a century that has killed tens of thousands of people. [File: Jes Aznar/Getty Images]
In 2018, Duterte issued an executive order forming a special task force led by the military to eliminate rebels. It had also declared the rebels a “terrorist” group and offered rewards for the killings of its members.
However, critics of the administration and human rights defenders said the new government entity is being used to target not only armed fighters, but anyone who criticizes Duterte’s presidency. They also said that the “culture of impunity” under his administration has allowed anyone to attack people without fear of the justice system.
Before her death, Sancelan had expressed her apprehension about being labeled a communist leader.
“I feel powerless. Every time I go to work, I become paranoid. Of course, we are afraid that they will kill us. I am no longer free to go to the countryside to do vaccinations at school,” she was quoted in a video published in the social networks.
Sancelan was not known to be affiliated with any activist organization, although she reportedly spoke out against the spate of killings in her community.
In a statement Wednesday, the Philippine Human Rights Commission said it was “concerned” by the news and “condemns” the murder of Sancelan and her husband.
In a separate statement posted on social media, Catholic Bishop Gerardo Alminaza, whose jurisdiction includes Guihulngan, denounced Sancelan’s murder as “non-Christian.”
“Dr. Sancelan was branded, vilified, red-labeled, and now, executed, by the ruthless pawns of the facilitators of ‘systematic murder’ in this country.”
The Philippine government has yet to release a statement on the latest killings.
Since the formation of the “anti-communist” task force in 2018, dozens of farmers and land rights activists have been killed in Negros.
In an incident in Negros Occidental province, a family of sugar cane farmers, including four women and two children, was killed by a group of armed men in October 2018.
In another incident in March 2019, at least 14 farmers were killed during government operations. Police said they were targeting members of the New People’s Army, the armed wing of the communist movement.
Retaliatory attacks were also reported, including the killing of four police officers in the town of Ayungon in Negros in July 2019.
In August this year, human rights leader Zara Álvarez, who has been defending the rights of murdered farmers and their families, was also killed by unknown gunmen.
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