SAN PEDRO, Laguna, Philippines – A trade union leader was gunned down in Sta. Rosa City late Wednesday afternoon, raising the number of slain labor activists in Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon) region to nine under the term of outgoing President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Eduard Panganiban, 27, was catching his ride to work when motorcycle-riding gunmen fired shots at him in Barangay (village) Caingin at around 5:20 p.m., Hermie Marasigan, chairperson of the labor group Pagkakaisa ng Samahan ng Manggagawa sa Timog Katagalugan (Pamantik), told the Philippine Daily Inquirer by phone Thursday.

He said that based on the accounts of the victim’s family and some witnesses interviewed by Pamantik, Panganiban died on the spot after sustaining seven gunshot wounds in the body.

Panganiban was a five-year employee of the Takata Philippines Corp., an airbag and car seat belt manufacturing company at the Laguna Techno Park, and secretary of independent trade union Samahan ng mga Manggagawa sa Takata.

Superintendent Rodney Ramirez, Sta. Rosa City police chief, confirmed the shooting incident in a phone interview, but has yet to give details on the motive.

However, Marasigan was quick to note the victim’s involvement in labor disputes over the collective bargaining agreement that has remained unsettled with the company’s management since last year.

Pamantik said Panganiban was also the 96th unionist slain in the Philippines under the Arroyo administration.