Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra ordered Tuesday an investigation on the killing of Anakpawis chairman Randall “Randy” Echanis.
He, however, said that Echanis’ family need to confirm first if the man killed in Quezon City is indeed the peasant leader.
Guevarra said he ordered the AO 35 task force on extrajudicial killings (EJK) to create a select investigating group to probe into the incident.
“It is necessary to confirm the identity of the victim before the task force on EJK starts its investigation of the incident. AO 35 covers the summary killings of persons on account of their advocacies, such as labor and peasant leaders, but not common crimes involving ordinary persons,” Guevarra said in a message to reporters.
According to Administrative Order No. 35, a composite team is needed in investigating and prosecuting grave human rights violations. Prosecutors would also supervise law enforcement authorities probing the crime.
On Monday, Anakpawis party-list said that Echanis and an unidentified neighbor were killed in a rented house in Novaliches.
Former Anakpawis representative Ariel Casilao claimed Echanis, 72, was undergoing medical treatment and unarmed when “police forces” raided his house.
However, the police said Echanis was not among the two individuals killed in the incident. Police Brigadier General Ronnie Montejo, chief of Quezon City police, said the victims were identified as Louie Tagapia and Manuel Santiago.
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The peasant leader’s widow, Erlinda, insisted her husband was killed.
Anakpawis posted on Twitter that Erlinda said Echanis’ body “bore torture marks, multiple stab, and gunshot wounds.”
Erlinda also claimed that police officers “forcibly took” Echanis’ remains from the funeral parlor to return it to Pink Petal Funeral Homes in La Loma.
Justice Undersecretary Markk Perete said a “thorough forensic examination may be necessary” despite Erlinda’s identification. He said they need to consider “questions” about the identity of the victim.
“We leave it to experts to complete this identification,” he said.
Meanwhile, Anakpawis said Tuesday a paralegal who was “keeping track” of Echanis’ remains had been arrested.
Anakpawis is a party-list in the Philippines. The party-list is the electoral wing of the radical trade union movement Kilusang Mayo Uno and the peasant group Kilusang Mangbubukid ng Pilipinas.