MindanaOne on the Violent dispersal of protesting farmers for food in Kidapawan City
“If
those who planted foods and they who feed the world have no more food
themselves, there is indeed a big wrong with the current system!”
In
its strongest possible term, MindanaOne condemns the violent response of the
government and police to the legitimate protest by 6,000 farmers in Kidapawan
City last April1, 2016. The said protest was to demand government subsidy for
the communities and farmers affected by the long dry spell in North Cotabato as
the province also was declared under state of calamity by the provincial
government.
Along
with this condemnation is the demand for justice for the farmers and those who
died in the violent confrontation.
We
mean justice here as holding those personnel and authorities behind the said
violent dispersal and shooting and not just those rank and file police
officers.
It
was since the month of February of this year that farmers and communities have
been crying for assistance due to the effect of the El Nino and pest infestations of their farms.
We
demand to the Department of Agriculture and local government units to involve
communities in deciding the usage of the funds for agriculture and the calamity
funds.
Above
all, MindanaOne holds the government of the Philippines accountable for what
have happened to our farmers and the agricultural sector including that of the natural
resources. Policies and actions of the government are of the same tune, to
accommodate capitalist interests first before the mass populations. It was
government institutions that have pronounced the impact of El Nino to rural and
agricultural communities as early as the past year 2015 but ineffectiveness and
negligence remained notable.
It
is high time now to put environment and human rights at the center of all
development efforts and not profit and gains.
MindanaOne
katipunanmindanao@gmail.com
www.mindanaonemovement.blogspot.com
1 April 2016
MindanaOne
is a tri-people multi-sectoral political mass movement advancing peoples’
rights and welfare.
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