AT LEAST five people were injured after gunshots were fired at a protest of an indigenous peoples community against alleged land-grabbing in Quezon, Bukidnon on Tuesday, which was attended by labor leader and presidential candidate Leodegario “Ka Leody” de Guzman.
“Thank you for those who were concerned, Roy Cabonegro, David D’Angelo, and I are safe,” Mr. de Guzman said in Filipino on Twitter, referring to two senatorial candidates from his party who were also at the site.
“An organizer of farmers and a leader of the Manobo-Pulangiyon tribe beside me were hit,” he added.
The protest action by the Manobo-Pulangiyon IP community was against the alleged land grabbing of their ancestral land, according to a Facebook post by Mr. De Guzman’s party, the Partido Lakas ng Masa.
The IP community claims to have been forced to leave their ancestral domain of about 900 hectares by a large corporation linked to the incumbent mayor of Quezon, said Mr. de Guzman’s media team in a Viber message.
The municipal government of Quezon has yet to respond to a query on the response of Mayor Pablo M. Lorenzo III, who is running for reelection.
“Those responsible did not fire warning shots, but directly fired at us which lasted for about 15 minutes,” Mr. de Guzman told a press briefing on Tuesday via Zoom. “Land grabbers look at our indigenous peoples as pigs who can be shot.”
Election Watchdog Kontra Daya, in a tweet, also condemned the incident as an “apparent case of election-related violence” and urged the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to conduct an investigation.
Commissioner George Erwin M. Garcia said via Viber, “This is a cowardly act that should be condemned by peace-loving Filipinos. If this is an election-related incident, count the Comelec in to use all our powers to get to the bottom of this and hold accountable the culprits and face the full force of the law.”
Presidential Spokesperson Jose Martin M. Andanar, in a statement on Tuesday, called on local authorities to investigate and prosecute those behind what he described as a “dastardly act.” — John Victor D. Ordoñez