A video footage taken during the violent dispersal last Friday of farmers protesting in Kidapawan City surfaced Saturday and might shed light on the incident that left three farmers dead and dozens wounded.
GMA News' Saleema Refran said on "24 Oras" that fully-armed authorities could be seen in the video firing their guns as protesters clashed with anti-riot police.
Authorities continued to fire their guns even after some protesters sought refuge inside the United Methodist Church center near the rally site.
The video, courtesy of Kilab Media, also showed the protesters hurling stones at the police amid blasts of water cannons directed at the rally crowd.
Meanwhile, in a drone video taken by the Kidapawan local government, protesters can be seen mobbing two police officers left behind as others were retreating.
Also, the drone video shows one police firing gun at the protesters.
Accounts on the number of casualties vary. According to the Sisters Association in Mindanao, three people were killed and 92 injured, 30 of them are in critical condition.
On the other hand, the Kidapawan City government said 102 police personnel were injured, and 3 of them in critical condition.
The Department of Interior and Local Government and the Philippine National Police are studying the incident using the videos on the incident that surfaced.
“Kailangan both sides makita, kasi lahat may karapatan eh,” Interior Secretary Mel Sarmiento said.
The authorities have already inspected the Methodist Church for firearms and found out only a police cap and an army pouch.
Meanwhile, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) will deploy a forensics team in Kidapawan to investigate the incident last Friday.
“Sa usapin ng dispersal, wala pong dahilan para gumamit ng live ammunition dahil pinag-uusapan natin dito ay hindi naman po ito criminal operation,” CHR chair Chito Gascon said.
Bullet for rice?
Drought-affected farmers from several towns in Kidapawan City launched a protest rally early last week to press the local government to deliver on its promise for assistance.
On the third day of the rally, three farmers were killed and dozens, including policemen, injured during the bloody dispersal of some 1,000 protesters barricading a portion of a national highway in Kidapawan.
In their quest for rice and food subsidy after the long dry spell laid waste their crops, three of them met death instead.
A not of caution: The video posted to this article was produced/edited by Kilab Multimedia, one of several Communist Party of the Philipines (CPP)-associated regional media production outfits that generate propaganda in support of the "people's struggle."
ReplyDeleteOne of the spokespersons cited in the video is affiliated with the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP-Peasant Movement of the Philippines), a known CPP peasant front.