CALL FOR IMPARTIAL PROBE. The Diocese of Dumaguete, headed by Bishop Julito B. Cortes, is seeking an impartial investigation on the recent death of 14 farmers in Negros Oriental. The incident sparked an outrage from concerned groups in the province who say the farmers were "massacred", contrary to police claims that they carried out legitimate police operations. (File photo of Judy Flores Partlow)
DUMAGUETE CITY – The Roman Catholic Diocese of Dumaguete, headed by Bishop Julito B. Cortes, D.D., is seeking an impartial investigation on the recent death of 14 farmers in Negros Oriental to seek the truth and to alleviate fear and unrest among the citizenry.
“We, in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Dumaguete, therefore, demand that an independent and impartial investigation into the deaths of these 14 men be done the soonest to unveil the truth,” Cortes said in a statement released Monday.
According to the bishop, a delay in the impartial investigation would “fan the flames of unrest among ordinary citizens in Negros Oriental and to perpetuate the distrust of the citizenry towards the police.”
The statement from the Diocese of Dumaguete came amid opposing and conflicting versions on the circumstances surrounding the deaths of the farmers last March 30 in Canlaon City and the towns of Manjuyod and Sta. Catalina.
Cortes pointed out, as cited in news reports, that the Philippine National Police (PNP) operations were carried out in the service of search and arrest warrants and those who died had engaged the lawmen in a shootout.
But the families of those who died debunked such claims, saying their next of kin were unarmed and helpless when the police operatives carried out the raids, he noted.
The Negros Oriental Provincial Police Office (NOPPO) said in the simultaneous operations, eight were killed in Canlaon City, four in Manjuyod, and two in Sta. Catalina, while 12 others were arrested and one police officer was wounded.
Four PNP officials, including the Negros Oriental provincial police director, were relieved from their posts following the incident.
According to Bishop Cortes, the truth is “crucial” and will work either way for the families and friends of the victims or for the police authorities.
“Any hint of cover-up will definitely tarnish the reputation of the Philippine National Police, in the province of Negros Oriental and in the Central Visayas region; any misleading information, on the other hand, from families and friends as regards the conduct of the raids will dishonor the memory of the victims,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) in Negros Oriental has reassured that it will conduct its “motu propio” or independent investigation into the death of the farmers.
CHR-Negros Oriental chief Dr. Jess Cañete said his office is now in the process of gathering statements from family members of the slain farmers as well as arranging for autopsy of those killed in Manjuyod and Sta. Catalina. (PNA)
