A farmers’ group urged Monday, Feb. 8, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to conduct an independent investigation on the “possible role” of the government’s anti-communism task force in the killing of a Bulacan farmer.
In a statement, Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) alleged that “armed representatives” of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) have repeatedly harassed Romeo Torres and his fellow farmers.
Torres, a farmer from Norzagaray, Bulacan, was found dead on Feb. 5 in Mabitac, Laguna.
His remains were stuffed inside a plastic drum plastered with cement and thrown in a creek. He was first reported missing three days before his body was discovered.
“We believe that the NTF-ELCAC is complicit in the murder of Rommy Torres. Armed representatives of the red-tagging task force have repeatedly harassed Torres and his fellow farmers. Their brazen actions have at least emboldened the goons directly responsible for the crime,” said KMP National Chairperson Danilo Ramos.
KMP said Torres was an active member of the Samahan ng Magsasaka sa San Mateo (SAMA-SAMA), a local organization of farmers fighting for their rights to a 75.5-hectare land in Sitio Compra, Barangay San Mateo, Norzagaray, Bulacan.
Hired security personnel, it said, has ejected farmers by burning their homes and fencing them off from their farm lots since 2018.
According to the group, local government personnel and armed men introducing themselves as representatives of the NTF-ELCAC have repeatedly “visited” or summoned the SAMA-SAMA farmers, and were reportedly red-tagged and threatened during the meetings.
“The cruel killing of Torres further highlights the dangers of red-tagging and the Anti-Terrorism Act. It victimizes the innocent and civilian poor merely for daring to assert their right to work and live,” Ramos said.
“The NTF ELCAC, a state body, is utilizing billions of public funds to harass and incite violence and death upon farmers merely engaged in actively defending their constitutionally-guaranteed rights,” he added.
The farmers’ group has appealed to the CHR to conduct an investigation regarding the matter and to assist in the filing of charges against the perpetrators.