No reason to shoot Kidapawan farmers, Cayetano tells gov’t

Vice Presidential candidate Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

The bloody dispersal of protesting farmers in Kidapawan City, North Cotabato was “totally unacceptable,” said Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano on Friday.

“There is no reason in this world to shoot farmers who were merely demanding from the government help from the oppressive drought. This is totally unacceptable. This is the height of impunity,” Cayetano said in a statement.

The senator said he and his running-mate Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte vowed to seek justice for all the farmers.

READ: Duterte camp on Kidapawan dispersal: Blood on Aquino’s hands

“We will hold all those responsible for this despicable crime accountable,” he said.

At least one was killed, while several others were injured in the dispersal of the farmers asking for government aid amid the long spell of drought that hit their lands.

READ: 1 killed, 13 hurt after police open fire in North Cotabato farmer protest

The senator cited how the government associates the mayor with extrajudicial killings, yet the Aquino government was tainted with the killing of the peasant protesters.

“Lagi nila binabanatan si Mayor Duterte na pumapatay ng criminal, pero sila ang pinapatay nila mga magsasaka,” Cayetano said in reaction to the incident.

(They accuse Mayor Duterte of killing criminals, yet they kill farmers.)

Cayetano and Duterte “expressed their dismay about the general lack of peace and order in the country, which they said resulted from the government’s systemic neglect of the people’s demand for real change.”

If elected, the Duterte-Cayetano tandem vowed bolder solutions to address the plight of farmers.

“This includes 100% free irrigation, budget increased subsidy for production inputs and P1 billion per region for a capital-lending scheme for farmers,” Cayetano said.

“Under our leadership, no farmer will ever be killed by the state. Mayor Duterte and I will make sure that their welfare will be safeguarded. The producers of our food will also have food on their own tables,” he added. IDL