Malacañang on Sunday defended President Benigno Aquino III for continuing to campaign for Liberal Party candidates Mar Roxas and Leni Robredo and not paying enough attention to the farmers and their families who were violently dispersed by policemen last April 1 in Kidapawan City.
“The main priority of President Aquino is the intensive focus on all the events related to the national interest and promoting the welfare of our boss, the Filipino people,” said Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said in an interview over state-run radio station dzRB.
Earlier, leaders of militant groups Bagong Alyansang Makabayan and Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas lambasted Aquino for continuing to campaign for LP candidates Roxas and Robredo.
“It is the height of callousness and incompetence that Aquino continues to campaign for the Liberal Party while farmers in the countryside go hungry,” Bayan secretary-general Renato Reyes Jr. said in a statement.
Coloma said Aquino is working on the particular aspects of El Niño, especially the implementation of the Cabinet Road Map to Address the Impact of El Niño or RAIN that covers all aspects of the drought, including helping farmers have safe drinking water and enough food.
He said the Department of Social Welfare and Development will continue to distribute food packs and implement cash-for-work programs for the benefit of families affected by the drought.
“Regarding the participation of the President in the campaign, the President firmly believes it is his responsibility to ensure that the reforms and development programs we benefit from are continued by candidates who will practice the principle of the Straight Path,” Coloma said.
Meanwhile, the president should take a break from campaigning and focus on solving the devastating drought in Mindanao and other parts of the country.
Last Friday, thousands of farmers joined simultaneous protests at the Department of Agriculture office in Koronadal City, South Cotabato, Cagayan de Oro City, Bukidnon and Cagayan Valley, peasant groups said.
On the same day, Aquino was campaigning in Antipolo City.
Friday’s mass actions capped a series of protests that followed the violent April 1 dispersal of farmers in Kidapawan City, Cotabato that left two persons dead and scores injured.
Aquino, Reyes said, “has not shown even the slightest concern” for the drought-affected farmers.
“He even blamed farmer protesters for the April 1 violence in Kidapawan,” he said.