Duterte’s statement, charges vs 2 NFSW leaders absolve real perpetrators in Sagay 9 massacre – Karapatan

President Duterte’s order to arrest or kill farmers who occupy land is reflective of the government’s long-existing practice of maintaining the feudal exploitation of peasants to maintain the interests of landlords and hacienderos in the Philippines. It shows how the government is complicit in the killings and rights violations against the peasants perpetrated by landlords and their private armies acting in cahoots with the military and police. Instead of implementing genuine agrarian reform to pave the way for land distribution to peasants, the government chooses to kill and arrest those who act to air their grievances and uphold their right to the land they have tilled and made productive for years.

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