The Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA) and its member organizations, joined today the national and global day of protest to demand justice for the 14 farmers killed in Negros Oriental and other farmers killed in the whole country as well.
According to Antonio “Ka Tonying” Flores, chairperson of UMA, this is the first time that such a coordinated action of protest actions against killings of farmers has been organized against the US-Duterte regime.
Ka Tonying added that this is a clear message from the national and international communities that they are fed up with the gross human rights violations perpetrated by the US-Duterte regime against its own people.
Some of the protest actions have already started. Protest actions called, “No Justice, No Peace, Stop the Killings in the Philippines!” were held inside the Hart US Senate Office Building and in front of the Capitol building in Washington DC on April 8. This was organized by the MALAYA: US Movement Against Killings and Dictatorship and for Democracy in the Philippines.
In Sydney, Australia a protest action was held in the Philippine Consulate on April 9 by the Philippines Australia Union Link (PAUL), Migrante Australia, and Movement Against Tyranny (MAT) – Australia. Similar protest actions are being held in various countries as well which was called by the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP).
In Negros Island, where the 14 farmers were killed on March 30, simultaneous protest actions will be held in 4 areas of the Island on April 12.
Even as a National Fact Finding Solidarity Mission (NFFSM) had been concluded in Negros Oriental on April 8 and its findings revealed to the general public that the farmers were summarily executed, military operations continue in Sitio Agho and Sitio Manggapa, in Masulog 1, Canlaon City.
Fifty troops from the RMF 2nd Maneuver Battalion with their local intelligence assets are operating in said area and are still conducting the much dreaded, Synchronized Enhanced Managing of Police Operations (SEMPO) or Oplan Sauron.
This has only been implemented so far in two places in Negros Oriental, in Guihulngan City from Dec. 26-27, 2018 which resulted to six summary executions and on March 30, 2019, which resulted to 14 summary executions.
Other than that, military operations are being conducted in Northern Negros Occidental since the Sagay massacre on Oct. 20, 2018.
The Philippine National Police, Armed Forces of the Philippines, and President Duterte, on the other hand, continue to blame the Sagay Massacre on the New Peoples’ Army (NPA), while claiming that all those who were summarily executed during the SEMPO fought back.
This is not acceptable to the local and international community. Instead, UMA in coordination with other organizations are not only calling for justice to all the killings of farmers in Negros and in the whole country as well, but also to call on the military and PNP combat troops to go back to the barracks.
Other than that it is calling on PNP Chief Oscar Albayalde to tender his resignation for command responsibility of the SEMPO operations in Negros Oriental and for whitewashing together with Malacañang the Sagay massacre.
The US-Duterte regime should also be ousted for intensifying repression mainly against farmers in the countryside. Like Marcos, Duterte is just a paper tiger. Despite being more brutal than Marcos, he should not underestimate the growing movement to oust him locally and internationally.
