Gunmen kill activist couple who worked for church in the Philippines

Published: 2006-06-20

QUEZON CITY, Philippines (CNS) -- Gunmen on a motorcycle killed two activists and journalists who worked for the church in the Philippines, said the director of Kidapawan Diocese's program for tribal Filipinos, a sector the slain couple had served. Father Peter Geremia, who is also a member of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions, said George and Maricel Vigo had just left his house June 19 when assassins shot them in the Singao community of Kidapawan City. "They were on the way home on a motorcycle George was driving, when another motorcycle overtook them and blocked their way," Father Geremia said. The priest spoke with UCA News, an Asian church news agency based in Thailand, after attending to the couple's bodies, their orphaned four children and Maricel's grieving mother. "They (George and Maricel) fell when a shooter wearing a helmet hit George. When Maricel got up, the man shot her, too," he said. George "died on the spot," and Maricel died at Kidapawan Doctors Hospital, the priest added. Father Geremia described the victims as "moderate activists" who fought for human rights, environmental and other social issues, and who served indigenous people, Muslims and other residents affected by clashes between armed factions.

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