Farmers in Kidapawan City were reportedly blocked from getting donations of Kapamilya stars Robin Padilla and Anne Curtis.
According to the report of Philippine Daily Inquirer, two of the country’s most popular stars went to Spottwood Methodist Center in Kidapawan City to provide emergency aid to protesters encamped in the area. However, police personnel blocked 300 farmers coming from Makilala town as they seek a share of 400 sacks of rice donated by Anne Curtis and Robin Padilla with the effort of other individual and civic organizations.
Just recently, it was reported that Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte has been blocked by North Cotabato Governor Emmylou “Lala” Taliño Mendoza upon giving food donations to the farmers of Kidapawan City who staged a protest the past two weeks.
The governor slammed Duterte who’s running for President after using North Cotabato as “staging area” for his ongoing campaign. Mendoza is under the Liberal Party (LP) whose presidential bet is Mar Roxas.
The agricultural workers have been in the area in the wake of March 30 incident which left almost 116 injured civilians and 3 casualties.
The locals are gearing food assistance from the local government of North Cotabato following the height of El Niño phenomenon which generally affected their living.
The report noted that the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) in Manila slammed the police and authorities with regards to the delivery of food assistance and other donations to the agricultural workers.
“All citizens should be free to receive help and support from other individuals or private and public institutions especially in the context of a crisis, albeit temporary,” CHR Chair Jose Luis Martin “Chito” Gascon told Inquirer via a text message.
The CHR chair furthermore added that “the CHR was still gathering information on the deadly clash and urged anyone who has relevant information to come forward.”
Photo Credit: Vencer Crisostomo/Twitter and Inquirer.net