The Daily Manila Shimbun

 

Teacher survives after being shot in front of students in Bukidnon

October 16, 2019



A member of Alliance for Concerned Teachers (ACT) partylist survived after she was shot in front of her students in Valencia City, Bukidnon on Tuesday.

A report from Valencia City Police Station identified the victim as Zhaydee Cabañalez, 34 and a teacher at Dalit Elementary School.

Initial investigation disclosed the incident transpired around 9 am at Sitio Dalit, Lumbayao, in Valencia City.

According to Cabañalez's husband, four unidentified men wearing bonnets were waiting outside the school premises.

“When the said victim went outside, the said suspects shot her several times,” the report said.

The suspects also tried to shoot the victim’s husband but he managed to take cover. After the incident, they immediately fled towards an unknown direction.

Cabañalez was immediately brought to the hospital and managed to survive after being shot on the chest and feet.

Recovered from the crime scene were nine fired cartridge from a .45 pistol.

The human rights group Karapatan, in a statement, condemned the incident saying the victim was one of the teachers who are campaigning for a P30,000 base pay for public school teachers.

“Karapatan strongly condemns this targeted attack against Cabañelez amid the worsening attacks against members of progressive organizations,” it said.

“Likewise, we reiterate that schools should be safe spaces — a declaration repeatedly violated under intensified militarization and martial law in Mindanao. We also believe that this attack is targeted, a calculated manuever to instill fear as part of a series of attacks on progressive organizations, peasant organizers, indigenous rights defenders, and human rights activists in Mindanao, particularly in Bukidnon,” it added.

The group said for 2019, they documented seven cases of extrajudicial killings in Bukidnon which targeted farmers and indigenous peoples. Ella Dionisio/DMS