El Nino aid demanded
AROUND 2,000 farmers and indigenous people marched yesterday from Freedom Park to the Regional Office of Department of Agriculture to demand the assistance promised them to revive their drought inflicted areas.
Kilusang Magsasaka ng Pilipinas (KMP) Southern Mindanao Region Pedro Arnado in an interview with Sun.Star Davao said that the protesters came all the way from Davao Occidential, Davao del Sur, Compostela Valley, Davao Oriental, and Paquibato, Baguio and Toril Districts of Davao City.
Arnado said that the protest was due to the fact that these farmers did not receive the assistance they’ve asked.
“Una kadtong 2015, gihapak man ug taas nga init ang Mindanao, ang mag-uuma man ang nakahiagum ato sukad kaniadto ug karon, dili makit-an ang hinabang
sa DA ngadto kanila sa mga nasalanta sa init (Last 2015, a long drought hit Mindanao, and the affected farmers have yet to receive the assistance from the DA),” Arnado said.
He added that the gathering was done to push their plea for the national agency to prioritize the aid for the farmers in the 2017 budget.
Arnado said the plea is in consonance with the pronouncement of President Rodrigo R. Duterte as they know that last year’s budget was corrupted by the previous administration.
He added that they are counting on the words of Secretary Manny Piñol who said that he will prioritize KMP as beneficiary of the aid sourced from the budget.
“Gi-announce ni Manny Pinol secretary sa Department of Agriculture, nga ang KMP ang unang makatagamtam sa budget tungod kay nahikawan kining mga grupoha gikan sa binhi, pestisidyo, farm tools, baroto sa mga mananagat, karabao, tractor (Secretary Manny Pinol of DA announced that the KMP will be the first one who will get the budget sensing that this group is deprived of assistance in the form of seeds, pesticides, farm tools, small boats for the fishermen, and tractor),” he said adding that their rally is a symbol of their unity farmers as beneficiaries of the promised assistance. National Police-Criminal Investigation Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) after the arrest of the three suspects at a checkpoint in Cotabato on October 4.
Authorities seized from the suspects materials being used for making an improvised explosive device, a sub-machine gun and a cal .45 pistol.
Four cellphones were recovered from the suspects, one of these containing audio and video clips of the Davao night market bombing.
In the resolution, DOJ said that the arrest and search of respondents’ vehicle is “legal and valid.” This was amid the statement of the three suspects in their counter-affidavit that their arrest was illegal and that they were not apprehended in a checkpoint, contrary to the claims of the PNP-CIDG.
The DOJ also said that it has found the statement of the officials of the PNP-CIDG who were present during the seizure to be “more credible.”
“As between the conflicting testimonies of the parties, regarding the surrounding circumstances of respondents’ arrest, we find that of the complainants to be more credible,” the resolution stated.
The decision penned by Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Peter Ong, was approved by Senior Deputy State Prosecutor Anthony Fadullon and Prosecutor General Claro Arellano.
The September 2 terrorist attack that had killed at least 15 people and had injured more than 70 prompted President Rodrigo Duterte to declare a state of national emergency on account of lawless violence. SUNNEX