TARLAC CITY — Obispo Maximo IX Alberto Ramento of the Iglesia Filipino Independiente (IFI) was killed early morning today by still-unidentified assailants in his church in Tarlac City.

Highly regarded as a progressive religious leader, Bishop Ramento has condemned attacks on leaders of activist organizations since 2001, among them Fr. William Tadena, IFI who was ambushed on March 13, 2005 by what activists now call as “death squads.”

Bagong Alyansang Makabayan-Central Luzon (Bayan-CL) in an SMS statement dubbed the killing as a “brazen attack on a peace-loving church leader,” calling it further as a “damnable imprint of a dictatorship.”

A fact-finding mission led by the human rights group Karapatan is now on its way to Tarlac City. Gitnang Luson News Service

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