Farmers from different places of Koronadal hit by drought blocks the Koronadal-General Santos highway to demand for rice assistance and seek the government intervention in mitigating the effects of El Niño on their crops. The protests of Koronadal farmers came after a few weeks when Kidapawan farmers made headlines on national news media.
According to the Koronadal farmers who were protesting against the government, they have been experiencing heavy crop losses due to the dry spell, which hit their province since late November 2015.
Local officials and police authorities in the city of Koronadal noted that the farmers have been picketing along the stretches of Koronadal-General Santos Highway since Saturday and there are instances that the protesters were lying on concrete pavements in shifts to drum up their protest action.
Due to the protest rally in Koronadal city, police authorities established a guarded detour for vehicles plying the highway via narrower roads straddling southeast of Koronadal City and South Cotabato’s nearby Tupi and Tampakan towns.
Before the rally at the highway in Koronadal city, farmers started picketing on Friday in front of the Department of Agriculture Office in Koronadal City, many of them were carrying placards that appealed to the government to provide them food rations.
Due to the recent protest rally in Koronadal city, the higher office of the Philippine National Police (PNP) through PNP Chief Director Gen. Ricardo Marquez advice officers on the ground to observe maximum tolerance at all cost in order not to repeat what happened in Kidapawan City.