Church condemns police violence against farmers

The Philippines Catholic Church has expressed shock at the shooting and the violent dispersal of protesting farmers in Cotabato province on the southern island of Mindanao, writes Ellen Teague.

At least three farmers were killed, 116 wounded, and 89 reported missing when police dispersed some 6,000 farmers and tribal people in Kidapawan City after a five-day protest last week. The hungry and desperate farmers had demanded more government help to get them through a region-wide drought.

“This is not the way to react to the grievances of the farmers,” said Bishop Broderick Pabillo, auxiliary in Manila, pointing out that water shortages had been predicted two years ago. “Still the government, both local and national, has done nothing that the farmers could feel that they are cared for.”

Tension in Kidapawan City eased last week after church leaders convinced the Government to remove police and soldiers who surrounded a Methodist church compound where some 3,000 of the protesters sought refuge. Tens of thousands of drought-hit farmers in Mindanao have been forced to buy food, instead of seeds for sowing, and water after the intense heat dried up water sources. Many rice fields are now wastelands after the long dry spell attributed to the weather phenomenon known as El Niño. Meanwhile, the Government has been slow to distribute rice from its food stockpiles.