MANILA, Philippines - President Benigno Aquino will not tolerate extra-judicial killings under his rule since his own father was also a casualty of political vendetta, the president's spokesman said Tuesday.

Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said the Aquino administration has no policy on political killings since it does not sanction them.

“We have no policy of extra-judicial killings. We will not countenance any extra-judicial killing. Our policy is we will not tolerate extra-judicial killings,” Lacierda told reporters.

The spokesman asked for forbearance from activists who protested the murder of a Bayan Muna provincial coordinator in Aklan province Monday. He said the President has already ordered an investigation into the crime.

He also noted that Aquino would never allow state-sanctioned killings since his own father, the late Sen. Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr., was a victim of extra-judicial killing.

Ninoy, one of the fiercest critics of the martial law regime of President Ferdinand Marcos, was shot at the tarmac of the old Manila International Airport (MIA) in 1983. The Aquino family has blamed the Marcoses for the murder, which the latter denied.

'Truth commission should probe murders of activists, journalists'

A party-list group, meanwhile, urged President Aquino to order a soon-to-be formed Truth Commission to investigate the murders of activists and journalists in the country.

In a statement, Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Teddy Casiño said the Truth Commission being formed by the Aquino administration should focus on cases that really need fact-finding, like the extra-judicial killings of activists and journalists, rather than cases that have already been extensively investigated like the graft-ridden NBN-ZTE deal, the fertilizer fund scam and the "Hello Garci" controversy.

“The aforementioned controversies are already ripe for case build-up and a finishing kick by the Department of Justice (DOJ). Acting on the killings is much more crucial for the Truth Commission because the atrocities are still going on as shown by the two recent killings in Kalinga (July 3) and Aklan (July 5)," Casiño said.

He added: "If President Aquino is serious in turning this country around, the climate of impunity must be stopped. That will be the most apt task for the Truth Commission – getting to the perpetrators of extrajudicial killings and having them prosecuted and appropriately punished."

Jose Daguio, 75, was killed in Tabuk, Kalinga on July 3. He is the first journalist killed under the new administration. According to the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), 140 journalists and media workers have been killed in the Philippines since 1986. Of the number, 107 have been killed during the Macapagal-Arroyo administration.

Fernando Baldomero, 61, was killed Monday in front of his home. He was a second-term town councilor, Bayan Muna coordinator for Aklan, and an official of the Makabayan Coalition in the province. Baldomero was the Lezo town coordinator of the Liberal Party (LP) of President Aquino.

He is the 145th Bayan Muna member to fall victim to extra-judicial killings in the country and the first activist and elected local government official slain under the Aquino administration.

Amnesty International has called on Aquino to fulfil his campaign promise to end political killings, including of journalists and witnesses in high-profile murders, as well as enforced disappearances.