By SHEEN CRISOLOGO
JAEN, Nueva Ecija – Unidentified gunmen shot and killed a Catholic priest as he was driving his vehicle Monday evening here.
The priest was identified as Fr. Marcelito “Tito” Paez of the Diocese of San Jose.
Paez, 72, was attacked by his assailants just hours after he facilitated the release of Rommel Tucay, a political prisoner who was detained in Cabanatuan City.
Paez took two bullets in his body and later on died at the Gonzales General Hospital in San Leonardo town.
According to the website of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), Paez was a former parish priest in Guimba town and currently the coordinator of the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines in Central Luzon.
In the 1980s, he was also a leader of the Central Luzon Alliance for a Sovereign Philippines, which campaigned for the removal of the US military bases in Central Luzon and other parts of the country.
He was also known to lead church service for communities and victims of human rights violations in Nueva Ecija and Central Luzon.
No group has claimed responsibility on the attack.