The head of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente’s (Aglipayan) Supreme Council of Bishops was found stabbed to death inside his church Tuesday morning in Tarlac City.

Police said 69-year-old Bishop Alberto Ramento, who was also the parish priest of the IFI church in Barangay Poblacion, Tarlac City, might have been killed by robbers.

But militant lawmakers suspect Ramento, an outspoken critic of the government, could have been the victim of a political killing.

The Tarlac police chief, Sr. Supt. Nicanor Bartolome, said a stay-in office staffer, Archimedes Ferrer, discovered the body at a little past 7am in the living room of the bishop’s living quarters on the church’s second floor.

The bishop’s empty wallet was found beside the body. Several coins were scattered in the bedroom and an undetermined amount of cash was missing, police said.

Bartolome said the suspects entered the church about 4:20 a.m. through a narrow opening on the ground floor. They then went to the second floor where the bishop was sleeping.

While the robbers were trying to open the safety box where the donations and other cash money are kept, Ramento must have been roused. When he tried to stop the suspects, one of them stabbed him with a kitchen knife.

A six-inch knife, presumably the murder weapon, as well as a pair of yellow rubber slippers, were found near the passageway leading to the back door.

Party-list Rep. Satur Ocampo, the House deputy minority leader, condemned the murder of Ramento and blamed it on the Arroyo administration.

“We hold the Arroyo government for: one, failing to stop the political killings, two, failing to undertake a genuine independent investigation; and three, for failing to respect and protect the right of dissenters—be they activists, journalists or church people,” said Ocampo, who belongs to the party-list group Bayan Muna.

He said Ramento was a “champion” of the people. “His murder may be meant to silence him and to end his comforting support to many causes, including human rights, civil liberties and good governance.”

Another Bayan Muna congressman, Joel Virador, said Ramento helped spur church people’s support for people’s issues. He added that Ramento also strongly condemned politically motivated murders and opposed Charter change.

“This is what the Macapagal-Arroyo administration wants—to strike fear among clergy who actively take up people’s issues and concerns. We stand firm with our brothers and sisters in the IFI in working for justice to Bishop Ramento and all other victims of extrajudicial killings,” Virador said.

Anakpawis Rep. Rafael Mariano said Ramento was the first ranking leader of the Aglipayan church to become a victim of political killing under the Arroyo administration.

“We believe that this is politically motivated,” he said