MALOLOS CITY, Bulacan --The death squads roaming Central Luzon victimized a barangay captain on December 12 in Sitio Buhangin Bgy. Atlag, Malolos City, Bulacan.

Renato Estrella y Salamat, 52, barangay captain of Atlag, was shot in the head at close range by bonnet-wearing armed men at around 6:30 PM.

The armed men immediately fled on board their motorcycle.

Estrella was rushed to Santos General Hospital, this city, but he was pronounced dead on arrival.

The killing of Estrella brought to 113 the total number of persons killed by alleged death squads in Central Luzon since President Arroyo assumed the Presidency in 2001.

Killing condemned

In an emailed statement, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) Central Luzon Chairperson Roman Polintan, vehemently condemned the attack.

Citing anonymous sources, Polintan noted that Estrella was a member of Bayan Muna and supported activities of various organizations critical of the Arroyo administration.

The same source added that the slain village chief had been "the object of constant military harassment for his strong reservations to deployment of soldiers in his barangay."

Doubtful

A police spot report attributed the slaying to an alleged sparrow unit of the New People’s Army (NPA) but Polintan doubted it.

Polintan noted further that the "methods fit the pattern of attacks on civilians" thus attributing Estrella's death to the alleged "death squads of the military."

The "military leadership in Bulacan had earlier boasted it has already neutralized alleged NPA rebels in this city and cleared it of the latter’s presence and influence," the statement by BAYAN closed.