Slain Aglipayan bishop buried

Aglipayan bishop and government critic Alberto Ramento was buried on Friday, 10 days after he was found stabbed to death in his rectory at Tarlac City. Hundreds of Ramento’s supporters and colleagues joined the funeral caravan from the national cathedral of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI, also popularly known as the Aglipayan church) along Taft Avenue in Manila to the Manila Memorial Park in Parañaque City. "Our demand for justice and the ideals he fought for have not died. We still demand to know the real motive behind his murder," dzRH radio quoted Ramento’s supporters and colleagues as saying. Ramento, 69, was found stabbed dead with multiple stab wounds on October 3 inside his convent in Tarlac. Police have declared the "closed", saying it was a case of robbery with homicide and have arrested suspected members of a criminal gang in Tarlac whom they have tagged in the murder. IFI head Godofredo David has expressed over the report of the police and has called for justice to Ramento "and all victims of extrajudicial killings." David, who noted Ramento was vocal against extra-judicial killings and Charter change, led the final ecumenical rite for Ramento at the IFI Manila cathedral before the funeral caravan. In a statement posted on the IFI website, David called Ramento "the bishop of the poor peasants and workers". Ramento's remains were cremated at the Manila Memorial Park. -GMANews.TV