Rev.  Tomas A. Millamena, D.D.
 
Suspected military assassins ambushed Fr. William Tadena after saying mass in the morning of March 13. Fr. Tadena was a strong supporter of the striking workers in Hacienda Luisita and an outspoken critic of militarization in the province of Tarlac. He and other three church workers were aboard his vehicle when they were mercilessly riddled with bullets. Fr. Tadena died from gunshot wounds in the head and other parts of his body.
 
A month ago suspected military assassins also ambushed Fr. Allan Caparro and his wife Aileen. They have been wounded but providentially escaped the slay attempt. Fr. Caparro is a strong advocate of human rights and has been exposing and opposing atrocities committed by the military in Northern and Western Samar.
 
The Iglesia Filipina Independiente strongly believes that these acts of terror were perpetrated to restrain her priests from supporting the poor in their struggle for life. This is not the first time that priests and bishops of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente had been subjected to threats and terror for seeking to incarnate the gospel of the kingdom amidst the situations of our people.
 
We have likewise recently discovered that the military had launched a smear campaign aimed at presenting a number of our priests and bishops as communist rebels.
 
We are appalled at the way we are being persecuted when all that we do is to share our table to the hungry, give a glass of water to the thirsty, and share a caring hand to the poor. We are appalled at the way we are easily reputed as subversives when we raise our call to bring an end to the war in the country sides, protect the rights of every worker, demand for genuine land reform, uphold democratic rights and civil liberties, and assert our national sovereignty.
 
The assault on Fr. William Tadena and Fr. Allan Caparro show the true state of things in the country. The senseless killing and slay try on both of them is part of a systematic campaign to terrorize individuals and organizations sympathetic to the cause of the marginalized sectors of society. There is reason to believe that what befell to our two priests, as well as the countless unresolved murders on mass leaders and the blatant attacks on the democratic rights and civil liberties of our people, is not without the knowledge of the government of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and the Armed Forces of the Philippines. The signs of the times lead us to believe that the situation could still get worse.