Human rights groups protest the violent dispersal of farmers in Kidapawan City at the Department of Agriculture on Friday. Two people died and over a hundred were injured when members of the Philippine National Police clashed with activists and farmers affected by drought in Mindanao.(MNS photo)
MANILA (Mabuhay) – There were “so many” dialogues conducted with protesting farmers in Kidapawan City in Cotabato but they want nothing else than to “hostage the government,” Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Ricardo Marquez said Monday.
“They will not settle for anything else. Gusto nilang i-block ‘yun. Gusto nilang i-hostage ang government,” Marquez told reporters.
Marquez, along with Interior Sec. Mel Sarmiento, was present at the turnover of fire trucks and patrol jeeps on Monday to be led by President Benigno Aquino III at the Quezon Memorial Circle.
Marquez said the PNP is planning to file charges especially that one of its officers detailed at the rally is still unconscious.
“We will file charges of course kasi ‘yung isang pulis namin unconscious pa hanggang ngayon. ‘Yung isang pulis namin may tama ng bala…The police were there in a legimitate situation,” he said.
As more farmers are reportedly gathering at the rally site, the PNP chief said they will do everything to clear the highway citing affected business establishments and tricycle drivers unable to ply the route.
“We will make sure na ‘yung highway na ‘yun ay bukas kasi kaya nagkaroon ng law enforcement operation. It has inconvenienced so many people already. We have to put order,” he said.
Three people died and dozens were injured during a clash between protesters and policemen along the national highway in Kidapawan City last Friday.
According to Sarmiento, however, only two people died, one of heat stroke and another due to a head injury. Another 10 rallyists were injured and 99 more from the PNP side also sustained injuries, he said.
Sarmiento insisted that the police exercised maximum tolerance at the Kidapawan rally.
He also appealed to the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), which is set to conduct a separate investigation on the incident, to look at both sides of the story.
“Ang pakiusap lang sa CHR, ang karapatan ng lahat. Lahat, lahat kasi dapat din nating tingnan hindi lang karapatan ng ralyista dahil ang pulis po ay tao din ay may karapatan din,” Sarmiento told reporters. (MNS)