Bulacan village chief shot dead

A village chief was shot and killed by still unidentified motorcycle-riding gunmen in Malolos City, Bulacan, Tuesday night. Reports reaching Bulatlat said Renato Estrella, 58, barangay (village) captain of Atlag, Malolos City, was shot to the head at close range by one of the gunmen in Sitio Buhangin past 6 p.m. Tuesday. Estrella was rushed to the Santos General Hospital in Malolos City, but was pronounced dead on arrival. The killing of Estrella brought to 113 the number of those killed by alleged death squads in Central Luzon since Mrs. Arroyo became president in 2001. Of these, 71 were perpetrated during the stint of retired Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan Jr as commanding officer of the Philippine Army’s 7th Infantry Division based in Fort Ramon Magsaysay in Laur, Nueva Ecija. Central Luzon is one of three regions named as "priority areas" in the government’s counter-insurgency drive. The others are Southern Tagalog and the Bicol Region. In the last two days alone, four people – among them two labor leaders and a human rights lawyer – were killed in Southern Tagalog and the Bicol Region. Initial reports from the police said Estrella could have been a victim of a New People’s Army "hit squad." But Roman Polintan, chairman of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan in Central Luzon, said Estrella had received several threats from the military because of his opposition to the deployment of government troops in his area. - Bulatlat