Pimentel sees lapses in Kidapawan rally dispersal

MANILA, Philippines - Police who dispersed a rally by thousands of farmers in Kidapawan City in Cotabato province were in the wrong, a senator said Sunday, adding the farmers had a right to protest a perceived lack of government action on drought in the province.

"Maling-mali yung execution ng mga police," Sen. Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III said in a radio interview on dzBB, adding the use of water cannons in the dispersal could have contributed to the violence that followed, where at least two farmers were killed and more than a hundred were hurt.

"Tinira sila ng water cannon, sa mata ng mga protester, that is violence already," he said. In a hearing on the dispersal by the Pimentel-led Senate committee on justice and human rights, police were made to explain why there were armed officers in the protest site in violation of police procedure.

Local police said there had been a risk of armed groups mixing in with the crowd.

Pimentel said, though, that protesters who attacked police should also be held accountable.

"Yung mga nanakit po naman mga protester, para patas tayo... [dapat kasuhan] kung ma-identify sila. Pero hindi naman lahat," he said, adding it was conceivable for senior citizens, who, along with pregnant women, were among those arrested after the dispersal. He said there were thousands of protesters at the rally and that those who did not participate in the violence should not be charged.

"Wala tayong constitutional right na mananakit, pero may constitutional right tayo na mag-protesta," Pimentel, a lawyer, said.

The farmers had blocked vital roads in Kidapawan City and, local officials said, cut off the city and inconvenienced residents. The protest action was held to demand government action on the drought, the distribution of 15,000 sacks of rice as relief, an investigation into falling rubber prices and into an allegation that Cotabato Rep. Nancy Catamco had armed members of a paramilitary group.

The government has said some of the farmers may have been misled by organizers who promised them rice, and that a member of the rebel New People's Army was among those arrested in the dispersal. Cotabato Gov. Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza has also said that not all of the protesters were residents of the province.