MANILA, Philippines – Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the police may have used unnecessary force in breaking up the protest rally of the farmers in Kidapawan City last week.
“The police used batons and guns against the protesters, including women and children, some of whom threw rocks at the police. Two were fatally shot, and dozens who were injured required hospitalization for gunshot and other wounds. The police also reported injuries to their officers,” the group said.
The HRW said police have detained 79 protesters and charged 74 of them with offenses including assaulting a police officer.
Three separate investigations into the incident are underway by the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Senate committee on justice and human rights.
The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) is also investigating the incident.
DILG Secretary Mel Senen Sarmiento said they are ready to accept any complaints or charges stemming from the violent dispersal.
“As part of our democratic processes, we respect the right of anyone to press charges against the DILG and the PNP, but this will not affect the government’s resolve to get to the bottom of the Kidapawan incident,” he said.
Sarmiento made the statement after some concerned groups said they are mulling on filing charges against some officials of the DILG and the PNP over the incident.
Phelim Kine, deputy Asia director at HRW, said the Philippine government should determine why the police used unnecessary force against the protesting farmers.
“Some protesters were throwing stones, but lethal force may only be used as a last resort to save lives,” Kine said.
The HRW interviewed witnesses to the protest and called for the government to ensure that investigations into police use of force are credible, transparent and impartial.Some 6,000 protesters, mostly farmers and supporters from drought-stricken areas in North Cotabato and Bukidnon provinces, gathered in Kidapawan City on March 28, calling for government food aid and other
assistance.
On March 30, the group protested by blocking the main highway into the city.
On April 1, anti-riot policemen were deployed to clear the road. A heavily armed SWAT unit supported the riot policemen.Witnesses told HRW that the police began donning their crowd-control gear at about 9 a.m. on April 1. Minutes after the crowd was ordered to disperse, a phalanx of police officers and SWAT unit personnel used batons to push through the crowd. When protesters responded by throwing rocks, water cannons were used against the protesters.
A video showed protesters advancing toward the police, followed by apparently uncoordinated gunfire that continued sporadically. Since the incident, local and national government officials have alleged that groups linked to the insurgent communist New People’s Army organized the protest. Protesters have denied any such links.
Kidapawan City Mayor Joseph Evangelista told HRW that he tried to negotiate a peaceful resolution of the protest with the assistance of the local Catholic diocese since March 30, but the protest organizers refused. – With Christina Mendez, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Roel Pareño
Evangelista claimed the police fired “warning shots” to protect two policemen who were down and “about to be killed” by protesters.
North Cotabato police director Sr. Supt. Alex Tagum said it was a judgment call of the policemen to fire at the hostile group “to defend the people who are helpless and about to be killed.”
Supt. Jerson Berrey, who supervised the police operation, said the police had “reliable reports that there were armed elements that were maybe accompanying the protesters.”
He said that this concern, along with Kidapawan City’s history of being “very
prone to terror attacks and bus burnings and kidnappings,” prompted him to order the deployment of a SWAT unit to help deter potential “terror attacks and situations in which the police will be made sitting ducks.”
HRW has been unable to confirm Berrey’s assertion of possible “armed elements” among the protesters. An estimated 1,500 protesters remain in Kidapawan City and have taken shelter inside the Spottswood Methodist Center (SMC) and are refusing to leave for fear of police harassment and possible arrest.
Police blocked the entrance of the center from April 1 to 5, requiring all those entering and exiting the compound to record their identities in a police logbook and to submit to a body search and examination of their belongings.
“In Kidapawan, a difficult situation got out of control. Transparent and impartial investigations are needed to find out what went wrong, who should be held accountable and what is needed to restore trust in the police,” Kine said.
Authorities are investigating reports that some local politicians misled the farmers into believing that sacks of rice would be given at the rally site.
Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez said measures should have been implemented to prevent politicians from using calamities as their political staging platform.
Romualdez suggested the creation of the Department of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management.
“The climate change is not only during typhoon and dry spell coupled with El Niño. We have must a department that is dedicated with a fixed and approved budget that is under the scrutiny of all,” Romualdez said.
Underspending
The government could have underspent its P52.81-billion quick response funds (QRF) for El Niño and other emergencies, which could have caused the food crisis that led the farmers to stage a protest rally in Kidapawan last week, Sen. Loren Legarda said.
Legarda said about P52.81 billion in QRF under the 2015 and 2016 budget allocated to address the impact of El Niño and La Niña phenomena and other calamities remained underspent until the first quarter of this year.
She noted the Department of Agriculture has unused funds of P11.9 million in 2015 while it has P496.6 million for this year for quick response.
About P703.6 million remained unspent in 2015 under the Department of Social Welfare and Development. The agency still has P1.6 billion under its QRF for 2016.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) had P5 billion in untapped funds for 2015 and P43 billion more QRF for 2016.
Legarda said the QRF is different from the regular budgets of the department agencies, which were also particularly allocated to combat El Niño.
Legarda said she was frustrated over the government’s poor utilization of funds and the disconnect of the national government in reaching out to the far-flung rural areas to address the problem.
The militant group Sanlakas coalition said the government’s El Niño Task Force was a “colossal flop” in implementing measures to combat climate-induced water crisis.
Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said the tragedy in Kidapawan could have been prevented if the government adopted a sound agricultural policy to address the needs of affected farmers. – Christina Mendez, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Roel Pareño