Cyclists wish for safe, terrorism-free communities

INGAYEN, Pangasinan – Cycling groups in

joined Saturday’s nationwide condemnation of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) and the call for justice for their victims.

The “Bike for Justice and Peace” also marked more than 40 days since the death of Kieth and Nolven Absalon in Masbate City on June 6.

The cousins were biking with a group when roadside antipersonnel mines exploded, a crime later admitted by NPA rebels as their responsibility.

Autopsy reports also found gunshot wounds on the victims.

“Bikers are peaceloving people. We just want peace so that we could freely ride our bikes without fear of any crime and we are seeking justice for the killing of our fellow cycling enthusiasts, Kieth and Nolven Absalon,” Metro Dagupan Cycling Club Inc. public relations officer Roy Velasquez said in an interview on Saturd ay.

The cyclists were from Dagupan City, Alaminos City, and the

towns of Dasol, Basista, and Binmaley, among others.

The group pedaled 20 kilometers around the baywalk area here and up to Bi n m al ey.

They also signed a manifesto condemning the terroristic acts of the CPP-NPA.

“We, together, as a nation, condemn the communist terrorist group CPPNPA and the threats they pose to the Filipinos’ right to life, right to family, and right to have true and lasting peace,” the manifesto read.

The European Union, through Council Decision 2011/ 70/ CFSP dated Jan. 11, 2011, designated the CPP-NPA as a terrorist organization.

The CPP-NPA is also listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.

( PN A)