Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 23) — The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) is investigating the reported police harassment of a widowed onion farmer in Pangasinan who testified in a Senate hearing last week.
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The DILG on Sunday said Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos ordered their Ilocos Region and Pangasinan offices to look into the incident allegedly involving the Bayambang municipal police.
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Earlier, Senator Imee Marcos criticized the DILG after police repeatedly visited the house of onion farmer Nanay Merly who told lawmakers that her husband took his own life due to the dire agricultural situation.
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The senator said police made the move — which she likened to how government forces targeted communist rebels — upon the orders of the DILG and the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict.
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READ: Sen. Marcos slams harassment of onion farmers by DILG, NTF-ELCAC
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Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos said the DILG will immediately provide Marcos and the public with updates on the probe.
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“Mataas ang respeto namin sa mga magsasaka dahil mahalaga ang papel na ginagampanan nila sa seguridad ng pagkain at maayos na nutrisyon ng ating bansa,” the DILG chief said.
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[Translation: We have a high regard for farmers, because they play an important role in ensuring food security and proper nutrition of the country.]
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The Philippine National Police is also conducting its own probe into the incident.
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During the Senate hearing last week, it was revealed that farmers were forced to sell their onions for ₱8 to ₱15 per kilo during the harvest season in 2022 due to a cold storage shortage.
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