The Standard - 2016 April 6 - Wednesday

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VOL. XXX NO. 53 3 Sections 32 Pages P18 WEDNESDAY : APRIL 6, 2016 www.thestandard.com.ph editorial@thestandard.com.ph

Morales indicts Purisima, Napeñas

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ANGRY CHURCHES Prelates condemn attack on Kidapawan farmers By John Paolo Bencito

CHURCH leaders on Tuesday condemned the violent dispersal of protesting farmers in Kidapawan City that led to the death of three protesters on April 1, saying it is never a sin for the hungry to demand food. A Methodist bishop whose church was being threatened with legal action for giving refuge to the farmers after last week’s violent dispersal denounced the govern-

ment for pushing farmers “to the brink of starvation.” “It is never a sin when poor farmers demand for food, but it is a sin to deny them food. And

when the might of the bullets and guns [is] used against the poor in their rightful demand for their basic needs, a monstrous violation of what is decent, upright, and just has been committed,” Bishop Ciriaco Francisco of the Spottwoods United Methodist Church, said in a pastoral statement. “The shooting of the poor farmers that claimed the lives of three people on April 1 during their protest is condemnable. There is no justification for this murderous

act of some concerned members of the PNP.” Francisco slammed the government’s response to the simple plea for bread, as “their cries for food were answered through the barrel of the gun.” “As bullets rained upon them and pierced their bodies, the gathered crowd sought only the fulfillment of a simple prayer: rice for their families,” the prelate said. The Catholic Church on Tuesday joined in condemning last

week’s violent dispersal of the protesting farmers. “This is not the way to react to the grievances of the farmers that the government was not able to address in the first place,” said Manila Auxiliary Bishop and public affairs chief of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines Broderick Pabillo. “The El Niño is not like a typhoon that can [catch] the government unprepared. It had already Next page

Die-in. Activists reenact the killing by policemen of starving farmers in Kidapawan City last week by lying down on the road leading to Mendiola Bridge outside Malacañang Palace in Manila on Tuesday. DANNY PATA

Duterte biggest gainer in latest Standard poll By Joyce Pangco Pañares

POLL

DAVAO City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte was the biggest gainer among the candidates seeking the presidency in next month’s elections while Vice President Jejomar Binay suffered his steepest rating drop since the start of the campaign period, the March 26 to April 1 The Standard Poll showed. Duterte, who got 30 percent, was sta-

tistically tied with Senator Grace Poe with 27 percent given the survey’s national error margin of +/- 1.8 percent. Liberal Party standard bearer Manuel Roxas II came in third at 21 percent, overtaking Binay who dropped five percentage points to 18 percent. Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago was at the fifth place with 2 percent. Duterte has surged in the latest The

Standard Poll, with at least 30 percent of the respondents saying they will vote for him if the elections were held today. The survey, which covered 79 provinces and 40 highly urbanized cities— including 17 cities in the National Capital Region, had 3,000 respondents, all of whom are registered voters who said they are sure to vote in the May 9 polls. Next page


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