Jasdeep Brar
SOC 122/Article 1
Philippines: Police Kill 3 Farmers at Protest for Rice, Amid Drought
On Friday April 1st, a protest took place in the Philippines concerning failing rice crops. The Amid drought that took place in the south nearly destroyed all harvests. The lingering affects left people with no water and wilted plants. Noralyn Laus, an active protester spoke about how the tribes have been left hungry and helpless. A protest then broke out in hopes to gain the government's attention. About 6,000 UNARMED farmers joined together and blocked the highway in a human barricade. Three farmers were killed by police, in attempts to break their force. In addition, 12 more were left wounded. Since these protesters were unarmed, police had no right to use violence in response to their movement. Laus expresses that they were not in the wrong for creating a protest and speaking out, especially since they were not harming anybody and since the government's clearly lacking involvement. She explains that they wouldn't have been so angry if the police hadn't retaliated in violence, attacking and beating people.
These groups of people simply want to survive. The movement wasn't about being accepted on controversial view points, it was a simple humane request to feed the population. Farmers in the Philippines are now desperately demanding justice due to the deaths of their fellow farmers. These farmers used the resource mobilization approach. Over 6,000 people joined together in order to be acknowledged. Their tactic was in the power of having large forces (creating barricades, etc.) Since three deaths resulted from this protest, it gave more room for media attention (good for the activists).
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