TACLOBAN CITY, Leyte, Philippines — An alliance of human rights groups in Eastern Visayas suspect that the military could be behind the death of a female peasant leader who was shot dead in the town of Catarman, the capital of Northern Samar. Jennifer Tonag, a 35-year-old mother of three, had been among those “red-tagged” by the military, according to Alexander Philip Abinguna, secretary-general of the Katungod-Sinirangan Bisayas, the Eastern Visayas chapter of Karapatan. ADVERTISEMENTAbinguna said Tonag was an organizer of the Northern Samar Farmers Association (NSFA) in Barangay Sumoroy, Lope de Vega town in Northern Samar. He said, however, that the military could be behind the killing of Tonag since they had tagged her group as composed of communist sympathizers. “She was an activist and been under surveillance by some intel-looking men in the past,” he said.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer January 19, 2020 09:45 UTC