Published February 9, 2021, 3:22 PM
The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) is seeking justice for a slain Bulacan farmer, who was found hogtied inside a plastic drum from a creek in Laguna, as the latter is laid to rest Tuesday.
The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) is seeking justice for a slain Bulacan farmer, who was found hogtied inside a plastic drum from a creek in Laguna, as the latter is laid to rest Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2021. (KMP / MANILA BULLETIN)
KMP in a Facebook post said it “vow[s] to fight for justice” following the death of 52-year-old Rommy Torres and called to “stop killing farmers.”
(Keith Bacongco / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)
In a statement, Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) alleged that “armed representatives” of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) have repeatedly harassed Romeo Torres and his fellow farmers.
Torres, a farmer from Norzagaray, Bulacan, was found dead on Feb. 5 in Mabitac, Laguna.
His remains were stuffed inside a plastic drum plastered with cement and thrown in a creek. He was first reported missing three days before his body was discovered.
“We believe that the NTF-ELCAC is complicit in the murder of Rommy Torres. Armed representatives of the red-tagging task force have repeatedly harassed Torres and his fellow farmers. Their brazen actions have at least emboldened the goons directly responsible for the crime,” said KMP National Chairperson Danilo Ramos.
Padilla earned $8 the first week, and the most he has ever collected was on Tuesday $21.40.
“It’s a hard job. It’s dirty too,” he said. “I need to have a thick face to people who assume I am one of the homeless.”
The 74-year-old retired psychiatric nurse doesn’t do it for himself. He does it to raise money for people starving in his hometown in the Philippines.
That is also why Padilla busks with his ukulele around False Creek when it’s not too cold or too wet.
His renditions of Beatle’s songs and Christmas carols aren’t all that good, he humbly says. But I can attest they’re not all that bad. Still, it is his hand-printed sign that states he is raising money for the people of Mabitac that makes the big difference.