Dela Cruz added that there is a widespread harassment and threat to the lives of farmers in the villages of Basey, Samar. Dela Cruz even quoted soldiers as saying: “We still have others to kill.”
Brother
Although Lucero is a brother of former Northern Samar Rep. Wilmar Lucero, Eco said they have reason to believe that the killing had something to do with the priest’s involvement in human-rights work.
Cerbito said they are still waiting for the results of police investigation. “We have no conclusion yet but logic will follow that the perpetrators are against the advocacy of Father Lucero,” Cerbito said.
Lucero will be interred on Sept. 14, the 22nd year of his ordination.
Justice
“[This should be] a wakeup call to stand up for justice,” Cerbito said of Lucero’s killing.
He said that the Most Reverend Emmanuel Trance, bishop of Catarman, is waiting for developments on the killing of Lucero. The National Secretariat for Social Action-Justice and Peace (NASSA) of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has also called up Cerbito about Lucero’s murder.
“Perpetrators must be brought to justice. We want justice for Father Lucero,” Cerbito said.
Meanwhile, in an email to Bulatlat, Father Santiago Salas, spokesman of the National Democratic Front in Eastern Visayas, accused the Arroyo government of “planning and carrying out the dastardly murder of Lucero.”
“Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo herself virtually signed Father Lucero’s death warrant,” said Salas. “When Arroyo inaugurated the Catubig Bridge last June 16, eyewitnesses say she publicly denounced Father Lucero as ‘that communist priest’ in front of Gen. Arthur Tabaquero and other high civilian and military officials. By doing so, Arroyo gave the signal to her military minions to kill Father Lucero in line with Oplan Bantay Laya’s political killings of progressives.”
Tabaquero is the commanding officer of the 8th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army.
Karapatan has documented more than 1,100 victims of extrajudicial killings since President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo assumed office in 2001.
International human rights watchdogs, including United Nations Special Rapporteur Philip Alston, have blamed the counter-insurgency program of the Arroyo government for the killings. (Bulatlat.com)
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bisan hain kita…. PAGKAURUSA !
an nahihinabo ha aton lugar partikular ha sinirangan bisayas..amo ine an resulta han disperadong nga mga dunot nga taktika han goyerno ni arroyo nga an lokal nga organisasyon nala an ira ginraraug-daug kay nasabot hira nga waray iarato kundi na nasaragan nga waray hunong kaguguliat han mga kabuktutan ug kadunutan han aton nasod..
an pagpatay kan father lucero, amo ine an magpapasamwak han kamatuuran nga bisan an taga sunod han diyos , dire pwede igkalibyas han mga sugo or dikta han administrasyon ni arroyo , nga papanmingawon or paundangon an pag-ato han aton katungod….
an kamatayon ni Father lucero , dire unta amo ine an magdidikta na bumulag na kita pagtuo han makagarahom nga dyos..
kay an labi nga makagarahum amo an tawo nga biktima han panlolorong ug pangunguwat han mga balaud nga magtitilo ha aton ngadto ha kamatayon…
ato kita leytenio
ako usa nga leyteno..adi yana ha luzon..
kausa niyo pagguliat han hustisya para kad padre lucero..
mahadlok na hira kun an 400years nga pagluhod luhod naton han mga simbahan katoliko ha sinirangan biasyas mahadlok na hira nga dire na daupon han tawo para pag-ampuan..AN BUKID , HALUAG NGA ARAMPUAN..KADTO KAMO HA IRA .. DIDTO HA IRA … HATAAS ! HARANIAY HAN LANGIT ! LANGIT HAN PAGLAUM ! LANGIT HAN PAG-ATO..
nakakapanghinayang at nakakalungkot ang kamatayan na sinapit ng isang naglilingkod ng tunay sa tao tulad ni Fr.Lucero. Nakakatiyak ako na ang may kagagawan nito ay walang pagmamahal sa kapwa at sa bayan at kanyang personal agenda lang ang iniisip. Sana mahuli agad ang mga gumawa nito pati na ang mastermind na hindi malayo na gobyerno rin ang nasa likod. Ituloy ang laban ni Fr. Lucero. Magka-urosa kita mga waray.