ASIA/PHILIPPINES - Tentorio's murder is "a blood stain on justice"

Kidapawan (Agenzia Fides) - Four years after the killing of Fr. Fausto Tentorio, PIME missionary who was shot dead on October 17, 2011 in Kidapawan on the island of Mindanao, the case remains unsolved and investigations are in deadlock. "Tentorio's case is like a blood stain in our search for justice and peace", wrote his brother Peter Geremia PIME, in a letter sent to the Minister for Justice, Leila de Lima, and sent to Agenzia Fides.
The letter calls for a more effective course of justice calling for the involvement of a "special investigation team for unsolved cases". Seven suspects have been identified, some are members of the "Bagan" paramilitary group funded by the army, while some eyewitnesses still live hidden.
Fr. Jeremiah writes: "Your administration may soon go down in history. Justice continues to elude us and impunity encourages authors to commit more blatant and barbaric murders". "We hope that all the resources spent on this case, all the people who have worked on it, all the prayers and demonstrations, can produce concrete signs that justice is possible for the victims" continues the text sent to Fides. The letter recalls those who gave their lives for social promotion and rights of indigenous and lumads.
On the solution of the case, another confrere, PIME missionary Sebastiano D'Ambra, is not very optimistic and says to Fides: "There seems to be no political will to solve it. Given the elections next May, the government gives priorities to other issues". (PA) (Agenzia Fides 09/10/2015)

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indigenous

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extrajudicial killings

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paramilitary groups

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armed groups

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human rights

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