RED VIGILANTES EXECUTE TWO DRUG SUSPECTS IN N. ECIJA

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- Assassins of the Red Vigilante Group executed two
men in Llanera, Nueva Ecija on Thursday night, reports reaching here said.

Speaking to the Inquirer by phone, Ka Ryan, the RVG spokesperson,
identified the group's latest victims as Romy Ferrer and Willy Chaves. The
RVG described Ferrer as an "untouchable drug lord" and Chaves as a "top
drug pusher" in Nueva Ecija.

The RVG spokesperson said the two, both from Talavera town, were forcibly
taken by RVG members from their houses in Barangays San Matias and San
Pascual in the same town on Thursday night.

Ka Ryan said Ferrer and Chaves were taken to Barangay Luna, Llanera, about
11 km from Talavera, where they were shot and killed by RVG assassins at
7:35 p.m.

Supt. Danilo Formanes, Nueva Ecija police intelligence chief, confirmed the
killings of Ferrer and Chaves but did not identify RVG members as suspects.

Formanes said the two men had no criminal records. He said though that
Ferrer and Chaves were known for their involvement in "petty street drug
pushing."

But Formanes criticized the RVG when told that it had admitted
responsibility for the slaying. He said the group chose not to target the
"big fish," referring to leaders of local drug syndicates.

The RVG claimed Ferrer had long been in the order of battle of the
Philippine National Police's Narcotics Group in Central Luzon.

The group said Ferrer began supplying illegal drugs, mainly shabu
(methamphetamine hydrochloride), in 1994 and used Talavera town as his
base. The RVG also tagged Ferrer in several cases of car theft and in the
murder of a former barangay captain in 1990.

Ferrer, Ka Ryan added, had not been charged or arrested for any crime
"because he had links with the PNP and politicians."

The RVG claimed Chaves was the top drug pusher in Barangays San Pascual,
Lomboy, Siksikan and Tabacao in Talavera.

"Ferrer supplied Chaves with shabu," Ka Ryan said.

The recent executions brought to 25 the victims of the RVG since 1998. The
group is comprised of mostly former New People's Army rebels.