DAVAO CITY—Mindanaoan congressman and human rights lawyer Carlos Isagani Zarate condemned the violent dispersal of barricading farmers and lumad who were demanding relief because of the effects of the long dry spell in Kidapawan City on Friday.
At least one farmer was killed while about 13 others were wounded after the police opened fire at the barricade.
READ: 1 killed, 13 hurt after police open fire in North Cotabato farmer protest
“We are enraged by this violence against the protesting peasants and lumads. While candidates do away with public funds for their self-interest, this is what you do to our peasants who assert for funds that are rightly theirs! State forces shot at them like animals! Bayan Muna condemns this uncalled-for violence of police forces to the highest degree,” Zarate said.
Zarate said the barricade should have been addressed in the context of a humanitarian crisis and not through brute force.
“When poor farmers choose to leave their farms and go to the city to ask for food, (it) is a cue for the government to address it directly. The government should not think about politics involved. Hunger knows no politics,” Zarate commented.
READ: Drought victims demand rice aid
Zarate said that the principles of social justice assert that it is of utmost importance to address the urgent needs of the people.
“Why would we allow our hands to be tied by protocols? The people are already hungry. We cannot deny the harsh effects of the drought. And that is the purpose of calamity funds,” Zarate said.
READ: Gabriela decries ‘massacre of farmers’ in Kidapawan
The Bayan Muna representative also condemned that national government for allegedly being absent in the crisis.
“The government has been very insensitive and irresponsive to the situation of the people. This crisis is not just local but is national by scope. Where are the billions of funds that are supposed to be used in crisis like this?” Zarate remarked.
Zarate raised the challenge to candidates, asking them to respond to the situation of the farmers.
“More so, we challenge candidates to demand justice for this brutality against hapless farmers and act upon the grievances of these peasants impacted by El Niño,” Zarate said.
“This marks a demise of what is left of democracy in our country. This is resonant of Mendiola Massacre and Hacienda Luisita Massacre, both of which happened under the reign and in the front yard of the Aquinos. True to form, the haciendero Aquino administrations of the past and the present are accumulating grievous sins against the peasantry,” Zarate further added.