Religious ministers draft plan to help end killings in Tayug
TAYUG–Alarmed by the unusual rise of unsolved killing here since after the May 10 elections, members of the Tayug Ministers’ Association (TMA) will meet this week to plot a common action plan that could help address the problem.
Spearheaded by Rev. Carlos B. Ebreo, TMA president and minister of the town’s Christian Church, 15 religious ministers here will sit down to assess the situation and draft a position paper.
Ebreo said they will also seek inputs from non-government organizations and Tayug residents for the paper.
The group plans to submit the position paper to Mayor Carlos Trese Mapili and the town chief of police, and copies furnished to Governor Amado Espino Jr., Police Provincial Director Percival Barba, Philippine National Police Chief Jesus Verzosa and Department of Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo.
Ebreo did not categorically say that the group believes the killings to be election-related but he did cite that political vendetta is a possible cause for the series of crimes.
“It is my humble belief and our belief that the root cause of all these killings and maiming of persons are wickedness and evil, ” Ebreo said.
Organized in1995, the TMA is composed of ministers of the Methodist Church, United Church of Christ, Baptist Church, Evangelical College, Assembly of God, Independent Church, Catholic Church, Pentecostal, Christian Church and other religious denominations in the town.
APPEAL FOR PEACE
Ebreo also appealed to the people who have been involved in these killings to “let love reign in their hearts so the town will be in peace”.
Ebreo said as a result of these violent incidents, people in Tayug now live in fear and are even afraid to go out at night.
At least nine people have been reported to be victims of violent deaths since the last election.
Two of those killed were councilmen and one a former barangay chairman.
Several other barangay officials, particularly those who supposedly acted as coordinators of losing candidates, have reportedly gone into hiding or have been limiting their movements within their respective homes for fear that they might be the next victims.
Residents say the killings have been driving away visitors and investors in Tayug, which is considered as the major hub in eastern Pangasinan.–LM
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