KMP slams Guerrero’s confirmation

Farmers’ group protested on Thursday the confirmation of Armed Forced of the Philippines (AFP) chief of staff Rey Leonardo Guerrero and the promotion of 40 other military officers.

“Guerrero’s confirmation will give him the more power and authority to unleash the most vicious attacks and abuses against the people under the guise of invoking the rule of law, ‘Oplan Kapayapaan’ and Proclamation 374. The CA’s confirmation of Guerrero definitely has Duterte’s approval,” Antonio Flores, secretary-general of Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP), said in a statement.

Flores said the group will hold Guerrero, the entire AFP bureaucracy and its various units and elements “for the intensifying militarization of peasant communities under the guise of its pursuit”  of the  Communist Party of the Philippines – New People’s Army  (CPP-NPA) , which President Rodrigo Duterte recently  tagged  as  terrorist groups.

In Mindanao alone, he said, 54 battalions were deployed and are now “wreaking havoc”  in peasant communities and rural areas.

“Since  Duterte terminated the peace talks with the National Democratic Front of the  Philippines, spate  of political killings and  other atrocities against  civilians intensified,”  Flores said.

As of November 2017, KMP said, 113 victims of political killings were documented, and out of this  number, 101 were farmers.

Guerrero and the 40 other  military officials  were confirmed by the Commission  on Appointments on Wednesday.