MALACAÑANG has condemned the killing of nine sugarcane workers in Sagay City, Negros Occidental last Saturday.
“We condemn in the strongest possible terms the reported deaths of sugar workers in Sagay City, Negros Occidental,” presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said.
“The Palace is deeply perturbed to learn about the incident and the Philippine National Police has already been ordered to conduct a thorough and impartial investigation on this dastardly act,” he added.
The Palace official said families of the victims can expect that the perpetrators will be held liable for the crime, adding that no life should be threatened because of disputes in land property.
“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.
The Makabayan party-list organizations and the Armed Forces have also condemned the killing.
“We are saddened by the incident that transpired in Barangay Bulanon, Sagay City, Negros Occidental,” said Armed Forces spokesperson Marine Brig. Gen. Edgard Arevalo.
“We are one with the families and relatives of the reported nine individuals who perished in the shooting incident in seeking for an assurance that justice will be served to both the victims and the perpetrators,” he added.
Arevalo said that they awaiting and will follow the results of the investigation being conducted by the Philippine National Police on the incident.
Anakpawis party-list Rep. Ariel Casilao described the killing as “barbaric and brutal,” saying that the victims added to the “long list of rural people” who have been murdered during the Duterte presidency.
ACT Teachers party-list Reps. Antonio Tinio and France Castro demanded justice for the victims who they said were merely “asserting their rights.”
“They launched the Bungkalan as part of an agrarian reform assertion campaign to fight hunger. We strongly condemn the red-tagging by the military and the police of the victims of this brutal massacre,” Tinio and Castro said.
“We also strongly condemn the false and malicious reports by the police and military saying that the victims were armed. The police and military has been trying to condition the minds of the public that killing farmers is okay while protesting and fighting for rights a criminal act,” Castro said. (Argyll Geducos with a report from Francis T. Wakefield and Ben R. Rosario)
