Sugar workers group calls hearing on Negros killings a ‘farce’
NFSW: Duterte policies have increased killings in the region
By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

The National Federation of Sugar Workers (NFSW) released a statement calling the recent senate hearing on the deadly violence in Negros Oriental a “farce.” Dr. Judy Taguiwalo, a convenor of the group, questioned why surviving kin were not present.
“Why [were] there no representatives [from] the organizations the victims [hailed] from?” she asked. “Weren’t most of them organized peasants, committed activists, human rights defenders?”
Taguiwalo, who previously served as President Rodrigo Duterte’s interim Department of Social Welfare and Development secretary, added, “We can only sneer at and condemn this brazen display of deception and injustice.”
The former cabinet official was one of the appointees recommended by the National Democratic Front, the political arm of the Communist Party of the Philippines.
Meanwhile, NFSW-Defend Negros Network convener Ariel Casilao said the president’s counter-insurgency policies have doubled the number of extrajudicial killings.
He noted, since Duterte issued Memorandum Order No. 32, which sought to increase the number of government forces in Negros, there has been a 350 percent surge in the rate of killings in the region.
Earlier this week, the Philippine National Police (PNP) provided an update on their probe into the spate of violence that occurred in Negros Oriental from July 18 to July 28, which resulted in 21 deaths.
They noted, another four were recorded this month.
Senator Risa Hontiveros, who filed the senate resolution to seek an investigation over the killings, also released a supposed “hitlist” made by a group called the Kawsa Guihulnganon Batok Kumunista (Kagubak), which supposedly opposes the New People’s Army (NPA) and communist ideology.
“We have a so-called ‘hitlist’ circulating and attributed to Kagubak,” the senator pointed out.
She pointed out, the list needs to be seriously looked into as one of those listed was Atty. Anthony Trinidad, who was killed by riding-in-tandem suspects in Guihulngan City last month.
However, Police Regional Office-7 director, Police Brigadier General Debold Sinas, who was also present at the hearing, concluded the supposed list was election related./DGB, WDJ