Palace condemns massacre of sugar workers
Malacañang said it is "deeply perturbed" over the death of nine sugarcane workers who were resting in a makeshift shelter inside Hacienda Nene in Purok Firetree, Barangay Bulanon in Sagay at about 9:30 p.m. Saturday.
"We condemn in the strongest possible terms the reported deaths of sugar workers in Sagay City, Negros Occidental," Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said.
“The Palace is deeply perturbed to learn about the incident and the Philippine National Police (PNP) has already been ordered to conduct a thorough and impartial investigation on this dastardly act," he added.
The Palace official assured
families of the victims that the perpetrators will be held liable for the crime, adding no life should be threatened because of land disputes.
"Families of the victims of this extremely cruel act can count on the government that it will enforce the full wrath of the law against its perpetrators," he said.
"The Office of the President adheres to the principle that the right to life shall remain unthreatened by proprietary interests, and this extends to agrarian settings," he added.
NPAs identified Panelo said witnesses who survived the attack identified the gunmen as reported members of the New People's Army (NPA).
"Investigation shows that members of the CPP-NPA were recognized by some survivors when they did the massacre," he said.
"Second, it seems that they were threatening these workers," he added.
"Whatever the reasons may be, ang nakikita sa imbestigasyon ay iyong CPP-NPA ang nasa likod ng massacre (investigation shows that it is the CPP-NPA behind the massacre)," he continued.
Panelo said the NPA's supposed involvement in the massacre may affect President Duterte's decision on the peace talks with the communist rebels. The President last week softened his stand against the communist rebels and said he will welcome with open arms NPA members who choose to surrender to the government and even offer them livelihood and housing.
Baits
Chief Supt. John Bulalacao, director of the Western Visayas regional police, said initial investigation showed the nine farmers were not working at Hacienda Nene and were just encouraged by a local Left-leaning organization to squat in the area where they were killed.
“They came from other barangays in Sagay City and they are not actually the tenants there. So their sudden presence there might have triggered tension,” Bulalacao told the Manila Bulletin in an interview at Camp Crame in Quezon City.
The investigation showed that the landowner, a certain Carmen Tolentino, had reportedly leased her land to a financier for the planting of sugarcane – the primary product in the province.
But before leasing the large parcel of the land, the 40 regular farmers of the hacienda had already in their possession deeds of donation executed by the owners.
And when the regular farmers found out that a small group of farmers had occupied on Saturday morning the land that was already given to them, they immediately went to the area to confront them and asked them to leave.
But the victims reportedly stood their ground, with the help of three members of the Negros Federation of Sugar Workers (NFSW) who were present in the area.
It was the three NFSW, which the police described as a Left-leaning organization, which reportedly brought the victims in the massacre site.
Bulalacao said the group who recruited the victims left them in the makeshift shelter to go to a nearby shanty to charge their cellular phones. However, just a few minutes after they left, the shooting incident happened.
"It appears that they were used as bait. That's why we came up with our angle that this was perpetrated by the NPA in pursuance of their campaign to discredit the Philippine government. Para isisisagobyerno (To blame the government)," Bulalacao added.
PNP chief, Director General Oscar Albayalde agreed saying "indications suggest the participation of the CPP-NPA [Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army] in pursuit of their 'Oplan Bungkalan at Okupasyon.'"
Another angle, according to Bulalacao, is that the land owners may have hired private goons to harass the farmers in order to force them to leave.
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Condemnation
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Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri also pressed for an indepth investigation on the massacre.
"I condemn this killing in the heart of sugarland which is an important sector of our economy. I have just come from Bacolod in Negros and I feel disheartened by these deaths,” Zubiri said.
“However, I note a few positive developments consisting of the willingness of the landowner to talk with government, specifically the PNP and the offer of huge rewards by Gov. (Alfredo) Marañon and his son who is the Mayor of Sagay City,” he said.
“I hope that these will lead to the early resolution of the case and killers be brought to the bar of justice,” added the senator. (With reports from Ellalyn De Vera-Ruiz andHannah L. Torregoza)