Violence Halts Mining on a Philippine Island

Cris Bual’s work as an executive for mining giant Xstrata, on the Philippine island of Mindanao, made him a target for Maoist rebels, armed bandits, and just about anyone with a gun for hire. Traveling to work in the island’s badlands from his home in the relative safety of Davao City, the island’s metropolis, Bual, a Filipino, kept his schedule and route secret. That wasn’t enough to save him.

While two gunmen blocked off the street where Bual and his wife were jogging near their home in Davao early one Friday last September, a third walked up to the 53-year-old and shot him dead. The killer and his accomplices escaped on a black Honda motorbike with no plate, according to police reports. Ten months after the murder, the suspects remain free because police are still waiting for a judge to be assigned to the case and for arrest warrants to be issued, says Albert Ferro, the officer leading the investigation. The communist New People’s Army, which has battled the government on the island for decades, denies involvement in the killing.