Philippines - Illegal Loggers Murder Pastor, Demolish Roadblock

NORZAGARAY, Bulacan: "Suspected timber poachers went on a rampage here on Thursday and killed a Protestant pastor after they destroyed an anti-illegal logging checkpoint. Supt. Ramon Bibit, this town’s police chief, identified the victim as Wilfredo Montecillo, 41, a pastor of the Assemblies of God congregation in Sitio Ipo in Barangay San Mateo here.

Bibit said three unidentified men came to Montecillo’s church on Wednesday night and waited until he concluded his weekly prayer meeting before the three men entered the church and looked for him.
The three men asked the victim’s wife to call him and when appeared, the suspects dragged Montecillo outside the church where they fired what appeared to be a warning shot and proceeded to stab him. The suspects immediately fled as parishioners rushed Montecillo and brought him to Nodado’s Hospital. However, he was declared dead on arrival.

Supt. Ferdinando Sevilla, the chief of the provincial investigation and intelligence branch (PIIB), told The Manila Times that Montecillo may have been killed because the suspects thought he had been leaking information to authorities on their timber-poaching activities.

EDIT

On Tuesday a combined team from the military, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the National Power Corp. confiscated 200 lumber flitches. A week ago, the same team confiscated about 100 lumber flitches and burned it. However, while burning the confiscated lumber some 400 meters from their checkpoint in Sitio Dike, the team’s barrier was destroyed by timber poachers. Members of the antitimber-poaching team told The Times that the killing of Montecillo and the destruction of the barrier are not isolated cases."

EDIT

http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2005/mar/05/yehey/prov/20050305pro1.html