MANILA, Philippines — Right groups Karapatan welcomed the filing of murder charges against suspects in the killing of Italian priest Fr. Fausto “Pop” Tentorio but called the move of the Department of Justice “long overdue.”

“Tentorio was killed on October 17, 2011 yet authorities have only managed to seemingly complete the investigation and file charges for preliminary investigation more than six years after,” Karapatan Secretary-General Cristina Palabay said Sunday.

The DOJ last Wednesday ordered the filing of charges against Lt. Col. Joven Gonzales and Major Mark Espiritu and several others over the death.

Tentorio, of the Rome-based Pontifical Institute for Foreign Mission, was shot dead by a lone gunman when he was about to board his car parked inside the Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish in Arakan, North Cotabato.

The Italian priest was a known environmentalist and had a strong advocacy against mining operations in Arakan and nearby towns.

READ: Italian priest shot dead in Mindanao

Palabay also objected to government statements that Tentorio’s death was a “plain and simple case of murder, devoid of any political motives of the military.”

She said that the priest's slay was perpetrated by state actors and paramilitary groups.

“We reiterate that Fr. Tentorio was a victim of extrajudicial killing; he was targeted and killed in line with the State’s counter-insurgency program, one that employs militarist and deceptive measures to silence communities, progressive groups and individuals who work for comprehensive and meaningful societal change and does not distinguish combatants from civilians,” Palabay said.

The Karapatan secretary-general noted that the government’s denial of political motivations behind Tentorio’s death is meant to evade accountability.

“It is meant to project Tentorio’s case as an isolated incident, and hide the real motives and the long list of crimes of the Philippine government and military in as far as suppressing all forms of opposition to exploitative policies and programs,” she said.

READ: Colleagues frustrated over 'slow justice' in Italian priest's killing