Police probing slain activist Zara Alvarez's link to leftist groups

Police investigators are looking into activist Zara Alvarez's affiliation with leftist organizations in determining the motive behind her killing in Bacolod City on Monday night.

In a phone interview Tuesday, Bacolod City Police Station 3 chief Police Captain Richard Fajarito said Alvarez's link to leftist groups is just one of the angles they are looking into.

"Sa initial investigation namin po, hindi pa namin na-identify talaga 'yung suspect sa pagbaril kay Zara Rebuton Alvarez, at may mga information na nakaabot sa amin na ang biktima ay miyembro ng Bayan Negros o Karapatan. So, we have to verify and confirm this kind of information... kung active siya sa ibang grupo," Fajarito told GMA News Online.

"Isa rin po ito sa mga anggulo na iniimbestigahan namin kung mayroong ano dito, kasi affiliated siya sa ganitong grupo. 'Yan po ang isa sa mga anggulo na iniimbestigahan namin," he added.

Investigators will also check with the victim's family if she had enemies who could have perpetrated the crime, Fajarito said.

"Hindi pa natin makausap ang pamilya niya. Diyan din natin malalaman kung may personal siyang kaaway na baka gumawa rin sa kaniya ng ganito," he said.

Citing the accounts of witnesses, Fajarito said a man was seen fleeing from the crime scene along Sta. Maria Street in Ereco Subdivision. Some individuals ran after the suspect but another man, riding in a motorcycle, was waiting for him and they were able to escape.

"Sa mga nakakita matapos 'yung pangyayari, isang lalaki lang naman 'yung nakita nila na naglalakad na paalis doon sa crime scene, tapos hinabol pa ng mga civilian security diyan sa area tapos sa kabilang street o kanto, may naghihintay na motorcyle kung saan sumakay 'yung suspect and then tumakas," Fajarito said.

"Nakita natin na parang planado din 'yung pagpatay kay Zara," he added.

Based on the initial probe, Fajarito said Alvarez was just about to return to her boarding house when the incident happened.

"Base po sa caretaker ng boarding house niya ay wala pang isang buwan siya doon sa subdivision na 'yun tapos noong last week umalis siya sa boarding house. Kahapon 'yun pa lang 'yung pagbalik niya sana," he said.

Police said three fired cartridge cases and a fired bullet were recovered from the crime scene.

Human rights groupd Karapatan said Alvarez was a former campaign and education director and paralegal in Negros. She was a research and advocacy officer of the Negros Island Health Integrated Program of the rights organization.

Karapatan also said the victim was among those tagged as “terrorists” in the proscription case of the Department of Justice filed in 2018.

Alvarez's killing happened days after Randall Echanis, consultant for the communist-led National Democratic Front of the Philippines and chairman of Anakpawis, was found dead inside an apartment in Quezon City. Members of Anakpawis said he was killed. —KBK, GMA News