Hontiveros slams ‘Sagay 9’ slay in Negros Occidental

Senator Risa Hontiveros. INQUIRER FILE / RICHARD A. REYES

Senator Risa Hontiveros on Tuesday condemned the massacre of nine farmers in Sagay City, Negros Occidental.

“I express my strongest condemnation over the killing of 9 farmers, including 4 women and 2 minors, who were reportedly fired upon by around 40 armed men at Hacienda Nene in Barangay Bulanon, Sagay City, Negros Occidental,” she said in a statement.

READ: 9 sugarcane workers gunned down in Negros Occidental

The police, however, noted that there could only be around five to seven gunmen in the deadly shooting according to other witnesses.

Hontiveros, an opposition senator, also put the blame to President Rodrigo Duterte, saying that the brutal killing happened under his watch.

The police are pointing to the New People’s Army as among those behind the carnage.

READ: PNP eyes 4 groups in killing of 9 sugar farmers in Sagay

She said the killing only points to two things: that the criminals are not afraid of the President or that his tough talk inspired its masterminds to do the crime.

“Either way, he failed in his promise to keep our people safe. His simplistic and barbaric approach to enforce law and order is not working,” the senator said.

Hontiveros also lamented that Duterte’s approach to law enforcement only applies to the poor people but not to big-time drug lords, landlords, and oligarchs.

“I call on our authorities to conduct a swift and thorough investigation of the incident with the end in view of bringing to justice all those responsible for this despicable act of violence,” she said. /cbb