Philippine leftist activist shot dead while sleeping in bus

A leftist activist was shot dead on Wednesday whilesleeping inside a passenger bus in the Philippines, police said.The bus was on a stopover in a terminal in the town of Aritao inNueva Vizcaya province, 180 kilometres north of Manila, when twogunmen boarded it and shot Randy Malayao, 49.

Other passengers alighted the bus to get snacks, but Malayao wassleeping in his seat when he was shot, said Chief Superintendent JoseMario Espino, a regional police director.The suspects fired two shots at Malayao, killing him on the spot,before fleeing on a motorcycle, he added.Malayao was once a committee secretary for the rebel Communist Partyof the Philippines (CPP). He was arrested in 2003 for the murder of acongressman and his aide in 2001, but was later cleared by a localcourt.He has been helping the CPP's peace negotiating panel with thegovernment, but President Rodrigo Duterte terminated the talks inNovember 2017.

Efforts to resume the talks have failed amid escalating attacks bythe guerrillas.Communist rebels have been fighting the Philippine government sincethe late 1960s, making the movement one of the longest-runningleftist insurgencies in Asia.Leftist and human rights groups condemned the killing and allegedthat government security forces could be behind the murder."We see no other motive and possible perpetrators," leftist allianceBayan said in a statement. "His death is clearly linked to hisinvolvement in the peace talks and his other advocacies as a socialactivist."