KMP urges filing of cases vs cops in killing of 14 Negros farmers

Leonora Avelino stands before the coffins of her husband, Ismael, and brother-in-law, Edgardo. The brothers were among the 14 slain by officers in a military-backed police operation Negros Oriental province, early on Saturday, March 30, 2019 (Contributed photo)

MANILA, Philippines — The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) has recommended the filing of criminal and administrative cases against police officers involved in the death of 14 farmers in Canlaon City and two towns in the province of Negros Oriental.

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

In a statement on Monday, the (KMP) said that its fact-finding mission looked into the killings of 14 rice and sugar cane farmers in a military-backed police operation.

With the information gathered by its fact-finding team, the KMP recommended a “thorough and impartial investigation to ensure the accountability of the perpetrators who are all police officers.”

“Criminal and administrative charges must be filed against all those involved in the March 30 Oplan Sauron operation,” KMP Chairman Danilo Ramos, who also led the National Fact-Finding and Solidarity Mission in Negros Oriental, said in a statement.

READ: Negros Oriental police chief, 3 other officials relieved over ops that killed 14

According to the KMP, the fact-finding team said that the police operation “did not target criminals but was rather executed against innocent, and civilian farmers, including two barangay captains.”

“The police planted fabricated evidences [sic] such as firearms and ammunition inside the residences of the victims,” the KMP said. “The manner in which the victims were killed was very brutal as all of those killed had multiple fatal gunshot wounds in the head and body.”

The KMP further recommended that the Synchronized Enhanced Managing of Police Operations (Sempo), or Oplan Sauron, be junked as it had resulted in the death of the 14 farmers.

“We already conveyed our sincerest condolences to the bereaved families who are also victims of human rights violations,” Ramos said. “Most of them were witnesses to the gruesome Tokhang-style killings of their kin. They need immediate psychosocial intervention and debriefing to help them overcome trauma from ordeal they experienced.”

READ: Kin of ‘Negros 14’ bury their dead: ‘We hope they will have justice’

/atm