ALL the 81 drought-stricken farmers who were arrested during a protest in Kidapawan City last April 1 have been released on bail, lawyers said Saturday.
Lawyer Edre Olalia, secretary-general of the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers, said the farmers were released as lawyers prepared for the arraignment which the court scheduled for April 25.
Meanwhile, Olalia said an independent autopsy and external examination of two men killed in the violent dispersal last April 1 showed that they died of gunshot wounds and not hard objects, “not bullets” as claimed by Interior and Local Government Secretary Mel Sarmiento.
Olalia said forensic pathologist Dr. Raquel Fortun conducted last April 9 autopsies on the remains of 22-year-old farmer Darwin Sulang and 30-year-old bystander Enrico Fabilgar.
Fortun’s autopsy revealed that Sulang sustained a “single perforating gunshot wound almost in the middle of the forehead, which exited at the top back of the head” while Fabilgar sustained a “single penetrating gunshot wound of the trunk,” Olalia said.
The two died during the dispersal of the protest that the farmers staged on the highway linking Cotabato and Davao cities to demand government assistance after their crops were destroyed by drought.
Olalia said the released farmers “will rest, settle down and consolidate, reunite with families” even as their lawyers review affidavits and testimonies.
NULP’s Sarah Villamor said the farmers were released after the payment of P6,000 bail for each of the 78 farmers charged with direct assault and P12,000 bail for three farmers who were charged with frustrated homicide.
Villamor said 12 were released on April 13, four on April 14, 63 on April 15 and another two on Saturday morning after the posting of bail bonds that were donated by individuals and groups.
“Many people believed that the farmers were seeking a legitimate redress of grievances so they contributed money for the bail,” Villamor said in Filipino.
Even the New York-based Human Rights Watch said police may have used unnecessary lethal force in breaking up the farmers protest in Kidapawan City on April 1, 2016.
HRW said police used truncheons and guns against the protesters, including women and children, some of whom threw rocks at the police to prevent them from hurting them further.
The Commission on Human Rights has already criticized the PNP for using firearms during the dispersal in violation of the rules during such an operation while the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights is conducting an inquiry in the bloodbath.
“The government needs to determine why the police found it necessary to fire at protesters,” said Phelim Kine, HRW deputy Asia director.
He said that some protesters were throwing stones, but lethal force may only be used as a last resort to save lives.
The group interviewed eyewitnesses to the protests and called for the government to ensure that investigations into police use of force “are credible, transparent, and impartial.”
Some 6,000 protesters, primarily farmers and supporters from drought-stricken areas in North Cotabato and Bukidnon, gathered in Kidapawan City beginning March 28, calling for food aid and other assistance.
On March 30, the group protested by blocking the main highway into the city.
On April 1, police, some with riot shields and helmets, led an operation to clear the protesters from the road, backed by a Special Weapons and Tactics unit equipped with military-style body armor and M-16 assault rifles.
