"UNCIVILIZED, disproportionate and barbaric."
This was how National Union of People's Lawyers (NUPL) described the bloody dispersal of protesting farmers in Kidapawan City in Cotabato on Friday.
In a statement NUPL posted on its Facebook account, NUPL secretary general Edre Olalia said that his group is outraged by the alleged merciless shooting by police authorities of farmers who staged the protest to demand for government aid amid the drought being experienced in the province.
"We are outraged by the inhumane and merciless shooting in Kidapawan, North Cotabato. It is uncivilized, disproportionate and barbaric. It is surreal as it is unconscionable," Olalia said.
Initial report said that two farmers was killed and at least 33 others were wounded, including the 20 police officers, during the dispersal.
About 3,000 protesters formed a human barricade that blocked the Davao-Cotabato Highway starting Wednesday, as they demanded the government 15,000 sacks of rice in the wake of the effects of drought.
NUPL said that they will fight for the victims promising that they will stand together with the poor and oppressed in helping them seek justice.
Olalia said that the NUPL will not allow this case to be another case of social injustice on farmers.
"We will not allow this to be another Escalante, Mendiola, Lupao and Luisita. Those responsible will have to face retribution one way or another, sooner or later, here or whatever," Olalia said.
Malacanang, for its part, said that sanctions would be imposed against those who would be found responsible for the bloody rally dispersal in North Cotabato.
Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr., quoting Local Government Secretary Mel Senen Sarmiento, said that the Provincial Government had assumed responsibility for the law enforcement operations pertaining to the mass action on the Davao-Cotabato highway.
He said the Philippine National Police is conducting a thorough investigation, and has reported that 40 members of the police force were wounded, including two police officers who suffered severe head trauma injuries as an offshoot of the clash between the authorities and mass action participants.
"Accountability is being established and appropriate sanctions will be meted out if justified by the findings of the investigation," Coloma said.
Senator Grace Poe condemned the incident and called on authorities and concerned agencies to immediately investigate and resolve the case.
"This should have been attended to by the concerned agencies at the outset that would have prevented the farmers from taking to the streets," she said.
Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. called for the creation of an inter-agency committee to address the violent dispersal.
"Cooler heads must take the lead so we can come up with a win-win solution to their plight. The farmers are just asking for food to feed their children and it is lamentable that the government has answered them with bullets," Marcos said in a statement.
Marcos condemned the violent dispersal and said the use of bullets was "completely unnecessary."
"I deplore the use of bullets to answer legitimate demands of our farmers and their families in North Cotabato. They are hungry and they are just asking for food so they can feed their families. The violent dispersal was completely necessary," he said. "The police should have negotiated with the protesters".
Marcos, who had repeatedly made calls to the Department of Agriculture (DA) to speed up programs to help farmers in the drought-hit areas in the country, also hit the government's incompetence to address the farmers' condition.
"(Farmers blocking the highway) is an act of desperation and I could not blame them. They are hungry for months, their crops are gone, damaged by El Niño. This should be a wake-up call to our government, our DA officials especially to double their efforts to help them," the senator said.
Marcos said the DA should account for the P2.1 billion specially earmarked to assist farmers affected by the drought conditions caused by El Niño amd spur agricultural production in the first quarter of 2016. (With SDR/Sunnex)
