KIDAPAWAN CITY, Philippines – Thousands of villagers from across North Cotabato on Monday prayed over the policemen who dispersed last Friday the farmers who blocked highways in the province for five days.
The event capped off Monday’s “peace rally” by residents from across North Cotabato’s 17 towns and different barangays in Kidapawan City following Friday’s violent clash between policemen and the farmers.
The blocking of the highways left thousands of motorists and commuters stranded.
Ralph Ryan Rafael, chief media relations staff of North Cotabato Gov. Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza, estimated the crowd at 20,000 to 25,000.
The event was held inside the provincial capitol compound in Barangay Amas in Kidapawan City, Cotabato’s provincial capital.
The rally was organized by local executives in the province, which covers 17 towns and all of the more than 30 barangays in the city.
“It was more of a `healing rite’ initiated to show that people in the province are peace-loving and are law-abiding citizens. It was also an expression of support to all police units in the province,” Mendoza said.
The North Cotabato police office drew flak for its dispersal of the farmers' groups that picketed at the highways here last week to demand relief subsidies needed to mitigate heavy crop losses due to the continuing drought since November.
Mendoza said leftists groups instigated the farmers to stage the mass action. She said the permit for their rally was good only for March 28.
“They did not disperse. They instead held on for four days to the great detriment of commuters, motorists and the business community,” Mendoza said.
Senior Supt. Alex Tagum, director of the North Cotabato provincial police, said they had tried all peaceful means of persuading the picketers to leave, but their leaders urged them to stay.
“They attacked the policemen tasked to reopen the highway with stones and wooden clubs. Many of my men were injured in the process,” Tagum told reporters.
According to reports on local radio, four farmers -- Rotello Daelto, Victor Lumandang, Enrico Pabrica and Darwin Sulang -- were killed in the incident, which also left 116 injured, among them more than 20 police officers.
Local officials had earlier said the farmers were instigated by leftist groups to block the portions of the Cotabato-Davao and Tacurong City-Davao Highways in the province to attract the attention of the media and government agencies.