DILG PROBES HARASSMENT OF WIDOWED FARMER

INTERIOR and Local Government Secretary Benjamin “Benhur” Abalos Jr. has ordered a full-scale investigation into the reported harassment committed by local police in Pangasinan against a widowed farmer who earlier appeared in a Senate inquiry on the high prices of onions.

Abalos ordered the Ilocos Region and Pangasinan offices of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) to look into the incident allegedly involving the Bayambang municipal police.

Last week, Sen. Maria Imelda Josefa “Imee” Marcos criticized the municipal police for allegedly harassing Merlita Gallardo, who said during a Senate hearing held on January 16 that five farmers had committed suicide, including her husband Roger, due to losses incurred in onion farming in Bayambang.

Roger, a barangay councilor in Paragos village, died in 2021 after failing to settle debts amounting to P500,000 and suffering losses of about P1.7 million, Gallardo said during the hearing.

Marcos said that Bayambang policemen visited the widow five times, forcing her to sign an affidavit stating that her testimony at the hearing was false.

The senator claimed that the police made the move upon the orders of the DILG and the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac). She compared the action made by the Bayambang municipal police to what government forces would do when they are targeting communist rebels.

Abalos vowed that the DILG will immediately provide Marcos and the public with updates on the probe.

“We have a high regard for farmers because they play an important role in ensuring food security and proper nutrition of the country,” he said on Monday.

Abalos reminded those who will conduct the investigation to follow the rule of law and protocols to avoid causing any fear among the local residents.

The Philippine National Police (PNP) is also conducting its own probe into the incident.

PNP chief Rodolfo Azurin Jr. already apologized for the incident. He clarified that the police only wanted her to sign an affidavit as “part of the documentation” and they were not asking her to recant her statement before the Senate committee.

He said the incident was probably a result of a “misunderstanding” that left Gallardo scared.

“We are apologizing for the misunderstanding that the police caused during their interview with Nanay Merlita. I promise that the police will no longer disturb the peace of Nanay Merlita, unless she requests for police assistance. The issue is already closed and settled,” Azurin said.

He said he directed Pangasinan provincial police director Col. Jeff Fanged to talk with Gallardo “and give their family an assurance that no harassment would be committed by the Bayambang police officers.”

The NTF-Elcac, meanwhile, denied any involvement in the alleged harassment activities against Bayambang farmers.