- President Aquino finally broke his silence on the violent Kidapawan dispersal
- He admitted he was unaware that thousands of farmers took to the streets to demand food aid from the government
- KMP chairperson Rafael Mariano said Aquino’s statement betrayed his weak leadership, indecisiveness, and downright stupidity
A week after the violent dispersal of farmers who took to the streets of Kidapawan City in North Cotabato demanding food aid from the government, President Benigno Aquino III finally broke his silence on the bloody incident.
In his speech during a Liberal Party campaign rally in Makati City on April 8, the president said he was not immediately informed of the incident
Christine F. Herrera and John Paolo Bencito mentioned in their article for The Standard dated April 10, 2016 that President Aquino admitted he only learned about the bloody dispersal where three farmers were killed after local policemen opened fired at them on April 1 while he was in Cavite.
“We were on our way back to Manila when DILG Sec. Mel Sarmiento mentioned he was going to Kidapwan, so I asked him what he was doing there,” the president said.
“Sa totoo lang po, doon ko lang narinig sa unang pagkakataon na mayroon palang nangharang ng highway sa Kidapawan at nagkaroon ng isang violent dispersal,” he added.
[Honestly, it was the first time I heard that there were people blockading a highway in Kidapawan and that there was a violent dispersal]
He said after learning about the incident, he immediately called for a meeting on Sunday, April 3, but he was told by Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. that concerned officials were not ready to give their briefing.
President Aquino said nothing will happen in the meeting if the officials are not ready, so he pushed back the meeting to April 4.
Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) chairperson Rafael Mariano called the president’s justification a “substantiation of sheer incompetence and apathy, coupled with brazen lies and cheap alibi.”
“Aquino’s statement betrays his weak leadership, indecisiveness, and downright stupidity,” he said.
“It took Aquino two days to call for a meeting that he himself postponed because according to the President, ‘if they are not ready, nothing will come out of that meeting and the gathering of data will further be delayed.’ Isn’t that stupid?” Mariano asked.
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