A full week passed before President Benigno Aquino III spoke about the bloody, violent dispersal by state forces of a farmers’ protest asking for food in a time of calamity. And all he had to say was he didn’t know about it right away.
The President, speaking on Friday, April 8 at an administration campaign rally for his bets Mar Roxas and Leni Robredo, said of his disposition on April 1:
- He was told late of the shooting in the farmers’ barricade in Kidapawan.
“Pauwi kami pabalik ng Maynila, nabanggit ni DILG Secretary Mel Sarmiento na kinabukasan tutungo siya sa Kidapawan at ako naman po’y nagtanong: anong gagawin mo sa Kidapawan? [We were on our way back to Manila, DILG Secretary Mel Sarmieno mentioned that he is going to Kidapawan and I asked: what will you do in Kidapawan?],” Aquino said.
He was traveling back from a turnover ceremony in Cavite in the late afternoon. The shooting happened before noon.
- He was told late of the farmers’ barricade in Kidapawan.
“Sa totoo lang po, doon ko lang narinig sa unang pagkakataon na mayroon palang nangharang ng highway sa Kidapawan at nagkaroon ng isang violent dispersal [In truth, that was the first time I heard that some people have blocked the highway in Kidapawan and that a violent dispersal took place.],” said Aquino.
The protest of 6,000 farmers started on March 29.
- He was ill.
“Last Friday night, I had fever. I wore a sweater, fully covered because I was feeling cold. There was no aircon, no electric fan. I tried to sleep,” said Aquino.
He was, however, able to attend to other matters, on April 1, including campaigning for Roxas and Robredo that was outside his presidential duties.
The President’s day on April 1 as monitored and reported to media: a closed-door meeting of the Cabinet Security Cluster in Malacañang Palace on the abduction of 10 Indonesians by the Abu Sayyaf Group; turnover rites of a school building funded by Pagcor in Cavite in the afternoon; and, campaigning for Liberal Party standard bearers and presidential tandem in a Makati sortie.
He did not relay messages of sympathy or condolences to the victims until this day.
He also did not speak of what he would do about the Kidapawan shooting or the prevailing drought that has placed at least five provinces in Mindanao in a state of calamity until this day.
Aquino ‘ignorance’ spawns memes, hashtags
Following Aquino’s silence and inaction, the term “Noynoying” reemerged. It was coined by youth groups and went viral in 2012, a terminology used to describe the president’s conduct to important national concerns as “doing nothing when he should be doing something.”
The social media hashtag #NasaanAngPangulo also resurfaced amid Aquino’s absence and inaction. The hashtag went viral when the Supreme Court declared Aquino’s Disbursement Acceleration Program as unconstitutional in July 2014 as well as when 44 Special Action Forces died in the Mamasapano encounter in January 2015.
Aquino’s silence on an important humanitarian and governance issue earned the fury of netizens.
His admission of ignorance, even more.
KMP hits Aquino ineptitude, Noynoying
“It took Aquino two days to call for a meeting that he himself postponed because according to the President, ‘if they are not ready, nothing will come out of that meeting and the gathering of data will further be delayed.’ Isn’t that stupid?” Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) Chairperson Rafael “Ka Paeng” Mariano asked.
Among farmers who launched the protest are members of KMP. The nationwide peasant group led a national fact-finding and humanitarian mission (NFFHM) to Kidapawan City three days after the shooting. The NFFHM was able to assist the families of the two dead claim the remains, account for more than 80 missing, attend to those confined in the hospitals who were under strict police guard and provide medical care for 369 patients, 42 of which were surgical cases.
“This confirms that even after being informed of the violent dispersal, the President tolerated the killings and harassments, and continuously tolerates the starvation, illegal arrest and detention of farmers,” concluded Mariano.
Still reeling from his silence and inaction on Kidapawan shooting on April 1 and the airport blackout on April 2, news of 18 soldiers killed in a clash with Abu Sayyaf in Basilan broke out in April 10. The President and his Communications group have yet to speak on the matter.
