KMP secretary general Antonio Flores said Ariel Diaz, head of the KMP local chapter Danggayan Dagiti Manalon (Dagami) was gunned down by three still unidentifi ed men in his farm in Villa Pereda in Delfin Albano.
The killing of Diaz was relayed to KMP by the Sentro para sa Repormang Agraryo in Isabela.
Flores said Diaz was the leader of the Inter- Municipal Peasant Alliance Against Foreign Landgrabbing in Isabela and the coordinator of the Unyon ng Manggagawa sa Agrikultura in the province.
“He had been leading local farmers struggle against landgrabbing in Isabela,” Flores said.
“It appears that there is a rising trend of extrajudicial killings against farmers under the Duterte administration. In the last fi ve days alone, five farmers have been killed,” Flores noted.
“Nakaburol pa nga ang mga magsasakang minasaker sa Fort Magsaysay noong Sabado, may magsasaka na namang binaril at pinatay sa Isabela,” Flores said, referring to the four farmers shot dead last Friday in their lands within the military reservation in Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija.
“Both the killings in Isabela and Nueva Ecija are linked to agrarian disputes with the perpetrators believed to be either hired goons or state security forces that serve as private armies of land-grabbers,” Flores said.
“We call on the Duterte government to put a stop to these politically-motivated killings. It is highly-condemnable that farmers who defend their right to the lands are being killed,” he added.
Flores noted that “Isabela is one of the hotbeds of agrarian unrest in the country as land monopoly, land-grabbing, and land conversion is rampant in the province.”
The KMP in Isabela created a Quick Reaction Team to gather more information on the killing of Diaz.
