By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

Senator JV Ejercito Estrada recently expressed sadness over the shooting incident in Sagay City that claimed the lives of nine National Federation of Sugar Workers farmers.

Ejercito, who was in Bacolod City over the weekend, condemned the incident to the “highest degree” and is currently awaiting full results from the investigation.

“As of the moment, I cannot comment since the investigation is still ongoing,” he said.

Negros Occidental third district Rep. Alfredo Benitez, meanwhile, said he believes a land dispute was the likely motive, however, it leads to another question: Who has the most to gain and who did it?

He added, a congressional hearing will be scheduled once he returns to Manila.

“At the end of the day, there are a lot of questions that need to be answered, like, what was the cause [for] the nullification of certificates of land ownership awards and who [were] the valid beneficiaries?” Benitez said.

The congressman noted, he heard landowners are presenting “dummy” names in the place of valid beneficiaries in order to retain ownership over a said piece of land./DGB, WDJ