KIDAPAWAN CITY, Philippines, June 22 (UCAN) -- Relatives and friends of a former Church employee killed with his wife last year hope the two will not become just additional names on a long list of unsolved killings.
Father Peter Geremia told UCA News the National Bureau of Investigation sent him and the family of George and Maricel Vigo a report last year, saying a "very influential person" was behind the couple's death.
When the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME) priest asked authorities about it, he was told a follow-up investigation is still underway. He refrained from naming the suspect.
Father Geremia was director of Kidapawan diocese's Tribal Filipino Program when it employed George Vigo, the slain NGO worker. The diocese is based in Kidapawan City, Cotabato province, 945 kilometers southeast of Manila.
On June 19, Father Geremia and about 100 relatives and friends of George and Maricel gathered for a symposium at De Mazenod Hall in the compound of the diocese's Our Lady Mediatrix of All Grace Cathedral to commemorate the couple's first death anniversary.Nuns, lay Church leaders, NGO workers, journalists, government officials and leaders of private groups representing various sectors were among those present.Father Geremia told UCA News the symposium was about "remembering the Vigos" but also "other similar victims." As of May 31, the NGO Karapatan (rights) listed 863 victims of extrajudicial killings since Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo became president in 2001. Twenty-two are classified as Church workers.The Vigos died of gunshot wounds after two men on a motorcycle fired at them on a busy Kidapawan street in broad daylight. They left behind five children between the ages of 3 and 15.When he was killed, George, 33, was project officer of the Mindanao Youth Leadership program of Community and Family Services International, which organizes youths in conflict areas. Maricel, 36, was a part-time researcher and coordinator of Solar Power Technology System, which promotes the use of solar power in remote villages.
At the symposium, Father Geremia reported no breakthrough in the Vigos' case. The police suspected Jhonever Madangguit as a hit man, but on June 3 the suspect was found dead in Agusan del Sur, northeast of Cotabato.
Some symposium participants suggested Madangguit was set up as the "fall guy" to put the investigation off track. Some hoped Bishop Juan de Dios Pueblos of Butuan, a former member of the Melo Commission, would help them push the investigation forward. Arroyo formed the five-member commission in August 2006 to probe the spate of extrajudicial killings in the Philippines.
The symposium also discussed the June 15 bombing of a bus in Bansalan, Davao del Sur province, south of Kidapawan, which killed two people and wounded eight others. Father Geremia also talked about his confrere, Father Giancarlo Bossi, who was kidnapped from his parish in Ipil prelature, west of Kidapawan, on June 10.
Some people believe these recent events are ways for the government "to divert the attention of people" from "what is happening in other aspects of the nation," Father Geremia told UCA News. There is speculation that the military may be restive, especially with the victory of an accused coup leader running for the Senate in the May 14 elections.
After the symposium, participants headed to the Memorial Cemetery in Kidapawan, where a Mass was held at the Vigos' graves. Father Geremia preached about the "spirit of truth" that brings about "peace." Both are "part of the hope of George and Maricel," he said.
The Vigos each hosted a radio program at DXND (Notre Dame), a radio station owned by the Oblates of Mary Immaculate. George's weekly program, "Tingog sa Kabatan-onan" (voice of the youth), was about issues confronting indigenous people, while Maricel's "Congress Update" discussed bills drafted by Cotabato representative Lala Talinio-Mendoza."The Vigos are often identified as media people, but their whole life has been part of the diocese as Church worker" and volunteer, Father Geremia said. Although both worked with NGOs, they continued volunteering for Church movements for indigenous people, the environment and peace, the priest noted. The husband and wife were also "active" in Apo Sandawa Task Force, an NGO consortium advocating environmental protection on Mount Apo, he recalled. Father Geremia led the group.