COURAGE LEADER SHOT DEAD BY MOTORCYCLE RIDING MEN

Submitted by courage_phil on Fri, 11/12/2010 - 20:39.

At
about 5:30 p.m. yesterday afternoon, an unidentified assailant, reportedly  riding in tandem in a motorcycle, shot dead
Carlo “Caloy” Rodriguez, President of Nagkakaisang Lakas ng Manggagawa ng
Calamba Water District (NLM-CWD) and an officer of COURAGE Southern Tagalog
Region.

 

In
a report, the leader was said to have come from a meeting with fellow union
leaders and was about to go home when he was shot dead in front of the Coca
Cola Plant near the stop light at the intersection in Halang, Calamba, Laguna.

 

“We
strongly believe that the killing is politically motivated. Caloy as known to
his peers and fellow members of COURAGE does not have any enemy. He was a
genuine union leader and a good public servant,” Ferdinand Gaite, COURAGE
National President said.

 

The
felled leader was also in the forefront in the campaign on various concerns of
state workers in the Southern Luzon. Among the recent activities that he
organized in relation to his advocacies are the Southern Luzon-wide forum on
government employees’ issues and the assembly of WATER-Southern Luzon.

 

Before
the unfortunate event, Rodriguez was set to attend the 9^th Congress
of COURAGE which will be held on December 6-10 in Baguio City. “Malaking kawalan para sa amin si Caloy. Isa
siya sa mga tunay na lingkod bayan na nakikibaka hindi lamang para sa interes
ng mga kawani kundi pati ng iba pang aping sektor ng lipunan,” Gaite added.

 

COURAGE
claimed that this is not the first extra-judicial killing (EJK) incident in
their ranks. Pax Diaz, Sammy Dote, Dominador de Luna and Prof Jose Maria Cui of
Region 8; Albert Terredano of COURAGE Abra were also victims of EJK under the
previous regime. Gaite believed that COURAGE’s uncompromising and militant
stance on national issues such as corruption make their members a target of EJK
and other forms of political harassment. COURAGE was included in the ‘Know thy
Enemy’ video realeased by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) during the
Arroyo administration. #