{"id":1046,"date":"2016-04-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-03-31T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/master.k8s.p4.greenpeace.org\/philippines\/press\/1046\/greenpeace-condemns-bloody-dispersal-of-farmers-in-cotabato-and-demands-government-action-on-el-nino\/"},"modified":"2019-11-06T17:05:05","modified_gmt":"2019-11-06T09:05:05","slug":"greenpeace-condemns-bloody-dispersal-of-farmers-in-cotabato-and-demands-government-action-on-el-nino","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/philippines\/press\/1046\/greenpeace-condemns-bloody-dispersal-of-farmers-in-cotabato-and-demands-government-action-on-el-nino\/","title":{"rendered":"Greenpeace condemns bloody dispersal of farmers in Cotabato and demands government action on El Ni\u00f1o"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Manila, Philippines \u2013 Greenpeace denounced the bloody response made by police on Friday, April 1, to protests by farmers and lumad (Indigenous Peoples) from the different towns of Cotabato who were demanding relief and subsidy for farm communities affected by the drought brought about by El Ni\u00f1o. At least one farmer was killed and 13 others were wounded, three in serious condition, after gunfire erupted as police attempted to clear the protest.<\/p>\n

\u201cGreenpeace condemns this unmerciful and inhumane treatment of our farmers in the strongest possible way. The farmers were merely trying to get the local government\u2019s attention to their plight in the face of El Ni\u00f1o, with Mindanao being hardest hit and their families facing hunger for months already. Instead of assistance and food, what they got were water cannons, batons and gunshots,\u201d said Leonora Lava, Senior Sustainable Agriculture Campaigner of Greenpeace Philippines.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Some 6,000 farmers and lumad<\/em> from all over the province started setting up human barricades across the Cotabato-Davao highway on Wednesday, March 30. The farmers were demanding relief, particularly food, after three months of waiting with El Ni\u00f1o at its peak and government failing to address the situation. The government has the resources [1] to respond to the immediate effects, and yet little to no help has gone to the farmers in Mindanao.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government has been adequately forewarned by PAG-ASA about El Nino since 2015. The country has faced the impacts of El Ni\u00f1o in the past, especially the strong one in 1997-1998. Greenpeace has, in fact, called on the government and those vying for the Presidency to lay down their immediate and long term response to this growing food and agriculture crises.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe stand with the farmers, who are the producers of our food, in demanding justice. Those who are responsible for this senseless violence need to be held liable. The farmers are already helpless as it is with the current impacts of El Ni\u00f1o, but the government\u2019s inaction and the brutal reaction to the protest are beyond excuse,\u201d Lava added.<\/p>\n

Notes to the Editor:<\/strong><\/p>\n

[1] The Department of Agriculture allocated Php900 million to assist farmers who are affected by severe El Ni\u00f1o in Mindanao. <\/a><\/p>\n

Contact:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Leonora Lava, Senior Ecological Agriculture Campaigner
\nGreenpeace Southeast Asia
\nEmail: llava@greenpeace.org<\/a>