Victims of dry spell block highway

DAVAO CITY—Assailing the local government for not providing assistance to communities suffering from the dry spell, thousands of farmers barricaded the highway in Kitaotao, Bukidnon province, on Tuesday.

Juanito Binaton, spokesperson of Kahugpungan sa Maguuma sa Kitaotao, said the farmers had been crippled for four months by the effects of the drought, yet no relief arrived from the local government.

“Our last cropping was in May, but our plants just wilted because of the heat and the absence of rain,” Binaton said in a phone interview.

“Our families are already very hungry. We do not know when rain will come so that we can plant. We know the local government has emergency funds and they should use it to give us food or else we will die,” he said.

Binaton said representatives from the local government unit who tried to negotiate with the protesters failed to agree with their demand to give them 2,300 sacks of rice. Only 600 sacks were committed.

Local police helped reroute vehicles, including public utility buses. Karlos Manlupig, Inquirer Mindanao