Hundreds Join Funeral March for Murdered Italian Priest

ZAMBOANGA CITY: Hundreds of Filipinos joined a funeral march on Tuesday for murdered Italian missionary Fausto Tentorio in the southern Philippines. Some of the mourners held a protest outside a Philippine  Army camp in North Cotabato’s Makilala town and sprayed red paint on a sign with word “Berdugo,” which means executioner, and accused the military as behind the killing of the priest, a staunch defender of indigenous tribesmen and their rights in the province. Tentorio, a member of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME), was shot 10 times on October 17 by two men outside his convent in Arakan town. The priest, a known anti-mining advocate, was previously accused by the military as a supporter of the communist rebel group New People’s Army. Communist rebels and human rights groups have also accused the security forces as behind the murder, an allegation strongly denied by the military.