Justice for the Victims of the
Kidapawan Massacre
On the morning of April 1, 2016 more
than 5,000 farmers and community members staged a protest in
Cotabato, Mindanao demanding immediate relief and aid from the
Philippine government due to the severe drought in the region when
combined forces of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and Armed
Forces of the Philippines (AFP) opened fire into the crowd including
children, killing at least three and injuring more than 30 people.
“This speaks to the core to what is
absolutely rotten in Philippine society– the domination of corrupt
landlords over the government and the landlessness of the majority of
the Filipino people. The farmers and protesters were simply demanding
food aid and relief from the government, and what they got in return
was violence. The Aquino government is guilty of these crimes against
humanity, and justice has yet to be served for the more than 300
extrajudicial killings under his term,” stated Bernadette Ellorin,
Chairperson of BAYAN USA. “The attacks on farmers and indigenous
communities have become part of Aquino’s legacy, continuing in the
same vein as the Mendiola and Hacienda Luisita massacres.”
The Philippines is one of the top
producers of rice and yet cannot feed its own people. Instead, most
of the rice produced in the Philippines is exported out of the
country. The priority of the Philippine government is on cash crops
like pineapple, rubber and sugar, while more than 23 million
Filipinos live in extreme poverty. With the neoliberal policies of
the government opening the Philippine’s natural resources to be
extracted by foreign corporations, there has been an increase in
violence upon indigenous communities, especially against the Lumad
indigenous groups in Mindanao because their ancestral land is
literally filled with gold, metals, and minerals.
“The Philippine government’s
military and local police along with armed paramilitary groups have
illegally occupied schools, murdered school and community leaders,
opened fire at children in these schools and now violently dispersed
peaceful protesters with impunity,” Ellorin continued. “With the
National Philippine Elections approaching, we all can see that the
current government has never had any backbone in its claims of ‘Daang
Matuwid,’ and the same old games of corruption and violence will
only continue if the Aquino-supported clique is elected. The
withholding of calamity aid and food relief for the starving farmers
is linked to the Aquino government’s electoral corruption, wherein
public funds for calamities are instead pocketed by government
bureaucrats. We need genuine change in our economic and political
system, one that is people-centered and focused on developing
Philippine national industries and agrarian reform in order to build
a self-sustaining country that can feed and support its people.”
BAYAN USA calls upon all people who
stand for human rights and self-determination to take a stand against
the Philippine government’s violence upon the farmers and
indigenous communities!
FOOD IS A HUMAN RIGHT!
Take Action NOW to Demand
Accountability for Police and Military Violence Against Farmers and
Indigenous People Protesting the Government’s Withholding of Food
Aid!
- PROTEST: At the Philippine Embassy or local Philippine Consulates
- CALL: the Philippine Embassy in Washington DC to protest the violent dispersal and killing of peaceful protesters, demand accountability, and demand the immediate release of food aid to farmers. Call, Office of the Philippine Ambassador to the U.S., Ambassador Jose L. Cuisia, Jr., Tel: 202.467.9366
- WRITE: President Aquino to register your condemnation of the violence of state forces against farmers and indigenous people. Cc members of the U.S. Congress Appropriations Committee.
- EDUCATE: Conduct activities to educate the community about this issue and to urge them to take action
- HOST: a delegation of Lumad indigenous people from Mindanao is coming to the U.S. from April – May. Host a speaking engagement for them to educate more members of your community about the issues of indigenous people. Contact vc@bayanusa.org for more information.
#RiceNotBullets
#BigasHindiBala
#FoodNotBullets
#StopTheKillings
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