KAPALONG,Davao del Norte — A leader of peasant group Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas was arrested Tuesday morning while facilitating a farmer’s dialogue with land owners in Kapalong, Davao del Norte, a human rights group spokesperson said.
Lito Lao, 59, Vice-Chair of Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas-Southern Mindanao Region (KMP-SMR) was arrested at around 10 a.m today (Oct.7) at the ABC Hall in Kapalong, according to Hanimay Suazo, secretary-general of Karapatan-Southern Mindanao Region.
Police authorities from Banay-Banay in Davao Oriental executed the arrest order Tuesday morning.
Suazo said that Lao was arrested on trumped-up charges by virtue of a standing arrest order through a case filed two years ago by a certain Vivien Jubac.
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“Lao and other twelve farmers in Davao Oriental are all facing trumped-up charges including qualified theft and other non-bailable cases which are meant to silence peasant’s struggle for genuine agrarian reform,” Suazo said.
As of this posting, Lao had been transported to Lupon town, Davao Oriental. (Mart D. Sambalud/davaotoday.com)
