Agrarian Reform Secretary John Castriciones on Wednesday warned all field officials and employees to stay alert at all times following an attack on a provincial officer whose vehicle was shot Tuesday.
He said the police are still facing a blank wall as to who could have been responsible for the shooting incident where a slug of a 38-caliber revolver was found in a bullet hole on the side of the vehicle of Nueva Vizcaya provincial agrarian reform program officer Dindi Tan.
“Nobody has claimed responsibility for the incident,” he said.
“While it was considered an isolated incident…be extra careful,” Castriciones added.
“That incident should not deter us from doing our job of emancipating small farmers from the bondage of the soil and helping uplift their economic condition,” he said.
According to Tan, some groups may have resented the latest program of the government to include rebel-returnees among the potential beneficiaries of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program.
The DAR provincial office had a CCTV camera, but the suspect appeared to be aware of it and positioned himself or herself outside its coverage area.