MANILA, Philippines — Human rights watchdog Amnesty International on Thursday denounced the “cold-blooded murder” of National Democratic Front of the Philippines consultant Randy Malayao. Malayao, also a columnist for Baguio City-based Northern Dispatch, was gunned down while he was asleep on a bus heading to Cagayan early Wednesday morning. Malayao, who was covered by the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees, acted as one of the spokespersons of the NDFP negotiating panel in Europe. Karapatan hits blame game on the killing of MalayaoLocal rights group Karapatan slammed the Philippine National Police for tagging the NPA in the killing of Malayao. But Karapatan claimed the PNP is deliberately bringing the NPA into the issue “to muddle the reality that this cold-blooded killing was perpetrated by the government’s death squads."

Source: Philippine Star January 31, 2019 02:34 UTC