I join the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas in condemning the brutal killing of peasant activist Rommy Loyola Torres. When a culture of impunity can arbitrarily detain a sitting senator, it can also murder a farmer, and leave him in a drum, to rot for fighting for his right to a parcel of land.
In 2019, when I filed Senate Resolution No. 1034 calling for an urgent investigation on the spate of killings victimizing our farmers, there were already at least 180 farmers killed under the current regime. Rommy Loyola Torres, who was red-tagged, is now the 315th and we know he will not be the last. Kahit ang pandemya ay hindi nagawang pigilan ang tumitinding karahasan at pagsasawalang-bahala sa buhay ng tao.
Ang patuloy nating panawagan: Hustisya. Hustisya para sa mga magsasakang nawalan ng kabuhayan. Hustisya sa lahat ng biktima ng panggigipit at pandarahas. Hustisya para sa lahat ng pinagkaitan ng karapatang mamuhay nang malaya at may dignidad.