Senate condemns but nixes Kidapawan probe

MANILA, Philippines – Senators joined congressmen yesterday in condemning the violent dispersal of a farmers’ protest in Kidapawan City which claimed the lives of at least two farmers and wounded several others.

Lawmakers from the Senate and the House of Representatives wanted a congressional investigation into the incident, but Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile said it would not be possible to initiate a probe during a congressional break.

Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. filed a resolution urging the Senate to investigate what he called a “regrettable incident.”

The Makabayan bloc of congressmen filed a resolution urging the House committee on human rights to look into the violent dispersal of farmers by the police in Kidapawan.

In the resolution, the seven lawmakers said there is overwhelming outrage across the country over the “brutal and violent dispersal of a farmers’ barricade in Kidapawan City on April 1.”

Enrile, for his part, joined the senators in condemning the incident, saying such events did not happen at the height of martial rule.  

“The administration should have acted immediately… the first day they gathered, they should have immediately attended to that so that it will not come to that confrontation,” Enrile said.

Sen. Vicente Sotto III said the police should have maintained maximum tolerance at the height of the incident. Sotto said the farmers cannot be faulted for staging a protest because they are hungry and desperate.

While he sees the need for the Senate to investigate the matter, Enrile shot down the plan of the Senate committee on justice and human rights to initiate the probe since only the Blue Ribbon committee can conduct hearings on its own initiative during congressional break.

The office of Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano announced the other day that the Senate will be conducting a hearing on the matter this week but some sectors questioned the timing of the investigation. 

Cayetano’s office said the hearing will be held at the University of Southeastern Philippines (USEP) in Davao City. Cayetano and Sen. Teofisto Guingona III already confirmed their attendance.

The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) also have their own investigations to determine who between the farmers and the policemen were at fault.

CHR chairman Chito Gascon has called on the public to avoid making hasty and haphazard claims pending the result of its fact-finding investigation on the deadly dispersal.

Days after the incident, various accounts of what transpired have circulated. 

But the CHR said raw reports from its field investigators still have to be verified and corroborated.  

“In order to ensure their truthfulness and veracity, all the reports and pieces of information will be verified and validated with available corroborating evidence, in accordance with the rules of the Commission and guided by the goal of helping shed light on the facts and to uncover the whole truth behind the incident,” he added.

Gascon called on those who have information to come forward and help shed light on what really happened.

For his part, PNP chief Director General Ricardo Marquez said he would not tolerate any wrongdoing by any of the policemen involved in the violent dispersal.

Marquez earlier said he stood by his men in the bloody clash as investigators would file charges against the protesters.

Marquez pointed out 99 policemen were reported to have been injured in Friday’s clash in Kidapawan with the protesters.

PNP spokesman Chief Supt. Wilben Mayor said the police and the Department of the Interior and Local Government are investigating the incident to ensure justice is serve to all those involved.

“If proven that policemen at the scene are at fault, the PNP leadership will not tolerate them,” Mayor said.

Thousands of farmers were demanding relief from the severe drought that has been gripping North Cotabato province since late last year.

The dispersal by the police left at least three protesters dead and close to 200 more, including policemen, wounded, some of them seriously.

Both sides have accused the other of instigating the violence, although some policemen were seen heavily armed during the dispersal.

Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Corazon Soliman said some of the women who participated in the march were misled with a promise of sacks of rice.

“They said that they were told to go there because a sack of rice was to be given away as relief,” Soliman said.

“They didn’t know they were heading for a rally and that they were going to block a highway.”

Malacañang also countered allegations of food scarcity in the province.

Contrary to reports, the national government has more than enough supply and has in fact implemented the low price of rice in drought-ridden Mindanao amid complaints by farmers about the scarcity of the food staple in the impoverished region, Malacañang said.

“Government has been fairly successful in mitigating the impact of El Niño, particularly in ensuring sufficiency in supply of food and keeping food prices stable,” Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said, quoting El Niño Task Force head Emmanuel Esguerra.

The El Niño task force released its progress report after meeting yesterday in light of the violent dispersal in Kidapawan.

Stable supply and prices of rice were made through the “a) production support like irrigation and distribution of seeds in non-vulnerable and mildly-affected provinces, b) timely importation, and c) price freeze in areas that declared state of calamity,” it said.

Valenzuela City Rep. Sherwin Gatchalian, however, sought an accounting of the P19-billion El Niño fund in the 2016 national budget.

“Our farmers have long been pleading for help but where did this fund go?”

Gatchalian questioned how the P19-billion allocation for projects related to El Niño was used by the administration.

He said the P19 billion was part of the government’s “Roadmap to Address the Impact of El Niño,” which he added was approved by President Aquino.

“Included in the roadmap are aid to farmers and a cash-for-work program to give supplementary income in rural areas. The roadmap also seeks to boost rice production in areas that are less affected by drought,” Gatchalian said.

“PAGASA has already warned about the development of El Niño way back in May 2014 yet the government, until now, has not sufficiently and effectively implemented measures to protect vulnerable sectors, especially our farmers,” he stressed.  – Christina Mendez, Paolo Romero, Jess Diaz, Delon Porcalla, Edith Regalado, Janvic Mateo, Rainier Allan Ronda, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Rhodina Villanueva, Perseus Echeminada