Peasant leader shot dead

CLARK FREEPORT, Pampanga, Philippines – A local leader of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) was shot dead in Delfin Albano town in Isabela  on Wednesday. ??

Three unidentified men perpetrated the killing of Ariel Diaz, head of the KMP chapter Danggayan Dagiti Manalon or Dagami at his farm in Villa Pereda, according to a report received by KMP secretary-general Antonio Flores. ??

Flores said Diaz was the leader of the Inter-municipal Peasant Alliance Against Foreign Landgrabbing and coordinator of the Unyon ng Manggagawa sa Agrikultura in Isabela. ??

“It appears  there is a rising trend of extrajudicial killings against farmers under the Duterte administration. In the last five days alone, five farmers have been  killed,” Flores said, referring to those gunned down at Fort Magsaysay in Laur, Nueva Ecija on Saturday.

“Both the killings in Isabela and Nueva Ecija are linked to agrarian disputes, with the perpetrators believed to be either hired goons or state security forces that serve as private armies of land grabbers,” he said.

Flores said Isabela is among the hotbeds of agrarian unrest in the country, citing rampant land grabbing and conversion.

The KMP in Isabela formed a quick reaction team to gather information on the killing.