Philippine rice farmer killed as drought protest turns violent: demo leader | Reuters
▻http://www.reuters.com/article/us-philippines-farmers-idUSKCN0WY3SV
Philippine police opened fire as a protest by thousands of rice farmers who lost their crops turned violent on Friday, killing one and wounding about a dozen, a leader of a farming group said.
About 6,000 farmers blocked a portion of the main highway in North Cotabato province on the southern island of Mindanao, demanding government assistance after drought linked by some to #El_Nino hit hundreds of thousands of hectares of farmland.
“Loud bursts of gunfire erupted,” Norma Capuyan, leader of a farmers’ group, told reporters. “There was heavy volume of fire. We ran to a church compound and the police surrounded us.”
#meurtres #sécheresse #riz (doré ?) #Philippines