Drought victims demand rice aid
KIDAPAWAN CITY—Some 6,000 farmers and militant activists barricaded a 50-meter stretch of the Cotabato-Davao highway here on Wednesday to dramatize their demand for assistance to drought victims from the provincial government.
“We bring our sentiments on the streets so that the provincial government will notice our demands,” said Pedro Arnado, chair of Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) in North Cotabato province.
Traffic was rerouted to a diversion road via Mlang and Matalam towns.
Most of the farmers came from the drought-hit towns of Arakan, Antipas, President Roxas, Magpet and Kidapawan City. They called on the provincial government to release 15,000 sacks of rice purportedly promised by Gov. Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza after the provincial board placed North Cotabato under a state of calamity.
Arnado said the protesters were also seeking the immediate pullout of military soldiers in their villages.
Reached on the phone in Manila, Mendoza denied that the provincial government was doing nothing to address the needs of the farmers. “The funds are here but we have to follow a process. In fact, we are about to distribute rice to them in the coming days with the Department of Agriculture,” she said.
The process involves barangay, municipal or city councils, which will handle requests for assistance and validation, she explained.
“I am sorry, but I cannot give their demands immediately. They must go back to their barangays. And from there, the barangay, municipality and the province will attend to their needs,” Mendoza said.
Supt. Bernard Tayong, spokesperson for the provincial police, said organizers of the barricade had tricked the protesters, promising them that rice would be distributed by the provincial government. He said that three days earlier, groups were roaming around the villages to encourage residents to go to Kidapawan to receive their share of rice.
The demonstrators stayed at least three days inside the Methodist Center compound near the boundary of this city and the town of Makilala. Reports from Williamor Magbanua and Karlos Manlupig, Inquirer Mindanao
