Palace: ‘Full wrath of law’ vs 9 farmers’ murderers

MANILA, Philippines — A “deeply perturbed” Malacañang has vowed to enforce the “full wrath of the law” against the perpetrators of the killing of nine sugar farm workers in Negros Occidental over the weekend.

Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said the Palace has ordered a thorough and impartial probe on what he described as a “dastardly act.”

“We condemn in the strongest possible terms the reported deaths of sugar workers in Sagay City, Negros Occidental,” Panelo said in a statement released Sunday night. “Families of the victims of this extremely cruel act can count on the government, that it will enforce the full wrath of the law against its perpetrators.”

President Duterte will visit the wake of the victims, although the spokesman said the schedule is still being finalized. Former presidential aide Christopher Go said Duterte might fly to Negros today.

Panelo said the Office of the President adheres to the principle that the right to life “shall remain unthreatened by proprietary interests and this extends to agrarian settings.” 

The nine sugar farm workers – all members of the Negros Federation of Sugarcane Workers (NFSW) – had just finished setting up a land cultivation area at Hacienda Nene in Barangay Bulanon, Sagay City when they were gunned down by unidentified assailants Saturday evening.

Police investigators are looking into land dispute as one of possible motives for the killing.

Former Bayan Muna party-list representative Neri Colmenares blamed government forces for the incident, claiming that the military had branded land cultivation areas as communal farms that support the New People’s Army (NPA), the armed wing of the communist rebels.

He has also accused the Duterte administration of “quelling any form of protest by criminalizing legitimate demands.”

But Panelo dismissed his statements as mere “propaganda” and blamed the communists instead.

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana also cautioned Colmenares and other groups against issuing baseless statements or accusations against the government, considering that the investigation is still ongoing.

“It appears in the investigation that the CPP (Communist Party of the Philippines)-NPA (is behind it)... some of the people there were able to recognize those behind the massacre,” Panelo told radio station dzXL. “Whatever the reasons, it appears in the investigation that the CPP-NPA is behind the massacre.”

In a statement, Lorenzana said: “By blaming government forces right off the bat, Mr. Colmenares shows us how desperate he and his comrades are in trying to discredit President Duterte’s administration and gain public attention.”

Panelo said the incident will definitely be considered when the President decides whether to resume peace talks with the communists. 

Duterte terminated the peace negotiations with the communists last year, citing the rebels’ attacks against civilians and government forces and their supposed proposal to establish an illegal power-sharing scheme. Communists have blamed security officials for the collapse of talks, saying they peddled “lies” to dissuade the President from talking to them. 

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said the attack was a “sabotage of the gains of the Duterte government in guaranteeing decent work, job security and blissful life.”

Agrarian Reform Secretary John Castriciones said the nine victims were not beneficiaries of the government’s agrarian reform program.

“The estate is not covered by the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) because its ownership had been transferred through a deed of donation,” he said at a news conference in Quezon City yesterday.      

He added that a notice of CARP coverage for the hacienda was declared “defective” in 2014.

The presence of the farmers in the area, he explained, is similar to a land occupation and that this “means that the farmers entered the estate even though they are not beneficiaries.”

“The Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police (PNP) do not have any involvement at all in the incident,” he stressed.

Goons

Castriciones theorized that former members of the so-called Revolutionary Proletarian Army, who became private goons, could be responsible for the shooting incident.

“As per the information gathered by Usec. (David) Erro with regard to the perpetrators of this act, allegedly it was by the armed group that we are calling the Revolutionary Proletarian Army,” he said, adding that this has yet to be verified and the motive of the killing has yet to be determined.

The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) also ordered the creation of a special task force that would probe the shooting.

“I have created a special task force to look into the matter so that we will be able to get to the bottom of this. I have also coordinated the matter with Director General Oscar Albayalde of the PNP and we had our conversation regarding this,” Castriciones said.

Militant groups said there should be no cover-up in the investigation and that this “should be swift and must bring the perpetrators to justice.”

“The manner by which the killing was committed points to impunity on the part of the perpetrators. Victims were shot and even burned. The message the killers were trying to send was that land rights had no place in that hacienda,” Bayan secretary-general Renato Reyes said.

He added that the landowners and their goons should be included among the suspects.

NFSW and the Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA) expressed fears that the PNP in Negros Occidental is whitewashing the massacre case and has called for an independent probe.

Chief Supt. John Bulalacao, Western Visayas Regional Police chief, assured the families of the victims that the PNP would not cease until the perpetrators are placed behind bars, adding that the victims may have been duped into believing that they could own the property under CARP.

He revealed that two witnesses already issued their affidavits saying they were recruited by NFSW only on the day of the incident and that they were given assurances that they would be given a portion of land they occupy.

“Prior to the shooting incident, a recruiter of the victims, based on the testimonies of survivors, informed them that he will be out for a while. When he disappeared, the shooting started,” said Senior Insp. Aireen Cordua, Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office spokesperson.

NFSW chairman Rolando Rillo said the killing of nine farmers, including two teenagers, in Sagay City brought to 45 the number of peasants killed in Negros under the Duterte administration. – With Rhodina Villanueva, Michael Punongbayan, Gilbert Bayoran, Emmanuel Tupas, Sheila Crisostomo