On March 17, Tirso Cruz from the United Luisita Workers Union was shot dead by gunmen as he walked home. Cruz is a key witness in the November 2004 Hacienda Luisita massacre, in which the army and police attacked a picket line, killing 14 people including two children. Cruz was also involved in opposition to the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway project and to the deployment of soldiers inside the hacienda. According to ULWU president Rene Galang, “We hold the Arroyo government responsible and condemn this latest act of brutality against the legitimate leaders of the hacienda people. By all indications, this may be another brutal handiwork of soldiers under the 71st ID who have been deployed in the hacienda since March 2005.”

From Green Left Weekly, March 22, 2006.
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