De Lima wants Senate probe on Negros farmers slay

CRY FOR JUSTICE Members of the party-list group Anakpawis picket the Philippine National Police headquarters on Tuesday, demanding justice for 14 farmers killed by policemen in Negros Oriental on Saturday. JAM STA. ROSA

MANILA, Philippines—Senator Leila De Lima has called for a Senate inquiry into the killings of 14 farmers who were slain in a joint military and police operation in Negros Oriental last month.

In filing Senate Resolution No. 1034, De Lima said the spate of killings of farmers in the country allegedly by state agents must be checked and stopped immediately.

“These killings tend to prove the inability of the Philippine government to discharge its basic duty to preserve and maintain peace and order, and to hold accountable the perpetrators of crimes and abuses,” De Lima said in a statement Monday.

“There is an urgent need to investigate this escalating trend and spate of killings victimizing our farmers, making it imperative for the government and law authorities and institutions to develop mechanisms which can hold these perpetrators accountable in order for justice and the rule of law to be restored and upheld throughout our lands,” she added.

Last March 30, 14 persons were killed in the joint military and police operations against illegal firearms targeting suspected communist rebels believed to be supporters and members of the New People’s Army in different municipalities of Negros Oriental.

READ: 14 killed in PNP, Army operations vs loose firearms in Negros Oriental

The killings were questioned by several human rights groups who called for the resignation of Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Police General Oscar Albayalde

Malacañang however sided with the police and insisted that the operations were legitimate and backed by appropriate court documents. It also rejected calls for Alabalde’s resignation.

READ: Palace nixes calls for Albayalde’s resignation over Negros farmers’ slay

The opposition senator questioned the used of the oft-repeated “nanlaban” narrative or “the suspect resisted” alibi as reasons to defend the killings.

“The recurring narrative of suspects having resisted arrest otherwise known as ‘nanlaban’, has long been serving as a wrongful justification for the targeted and continuous killings around the country,” said the former justice secretary.

De Lima pointed out that as agents of the state, the PNP and the military “must observe both international and local operational procedures in order to enforce the law with respect to human rights-based policing, and reasonable rules of engagement.” /je