Letter to new leadership of China Christian Council (CCC) and Three Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM)
The National Council of Churches in the Philippines is reporting the assassination on Wednesday, January 23, 2008 of another church leader, Rev. Felicisimo Catambis, a pastor of Global Ministries’ partner the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP). The shooting by masked gunmen on motorcycle follows the same pattern of extrajudicial killings that human rights groups and international investigators have linked to a Government-sanctioned military campaign to eliminate and intimidate grassroots community organizers, including church leaders of several denominations. More UCCP pastors and laypeople have been killed than any other denomination.
The National Council of Churches in the Philippines is reporting the assassination on Wednesday, January 23, 2008 of another church leader, Rev. Felicisimo Catambis, a pastor of Global Ministries’ partner the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP). The shooting by masked gunmen on motorcycle follows the same pattern of extrajudicial killings that human rights groups and international investigators have linked to a Government-sanctioned military campaign to eliminate and intimidate grassroots community organizers, including church leaders of several denominations. More UCCP pastors and laypeople have been killed than any other denomination.
A news report of the murder follows:
Protestant pastor shot dead in Leyte
TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines — A pastor of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) in a Leyte town was shot dead by a still unknown assailant Wednesday morning, belated reports reaching this city said.
Abuyog police chief Senior Inspector Ismael Lantajo said Pastor Felicisimo Catambis, 60, who had been assigned to the UCCP church in the town, was riding a motorcycle in sitio (sub-village) Catugan, Barangay (village) Balucawe, 10 kilometers from the town center when one of two men on another motorcycle fired at the victim several times around 7:30 a.m.
The pastor, who was on his way to town, suffered nine gunshot wounds in the back, Lantajo said. Police investigators recovered the same number of 9-millimeter shells at the scene of the killing.
“We are still conducting our investigation as to the motive [for] the killing of Pastor Catambis. We just hope that those who witnessed the incident would come out so they can help us solve the crime,” Lantajo said in a telephone interview.
Pastor Noel Balo, head of the UCCP in Leyte, said they were shocked by the killing of Catambis, the third member of the church murdered in the province in as many years.
“He was a good man. We just hope that our authorities solve the killing of Pastor Catambis,” Balo said in a separate interview.
In 2005, still unidentified armed men shot dead church member Alfred Davis and Edison Lapuz, Balo’s predecessor. The killings remain unsolved to this day.
Davis was a resident of Mahaplag while Lapuz was a resident of San Isidro, both in Leyte.
Balo declined to say who could be responsible for the death of Catambis, who left behind his wife, Linda, and six children. His remains lie at the UCCP Church in Abuyog, 64 kilometers from Tacloban.
Lantajo said Catambis was not known to be a member of or involved in any militant or progressive groups.
“This really puzzles us. And based on our initial talks with the family, they don’t know any enemy of Pastor Catambis,” he said.
By Joey A. Gabieta
Visayas Bureau, Philippine Daily Inquirer