A FARMER-LEADER moonlighting as a host of a radio program in San Carlos City, Negros Occidental was shot and killed on Wednesday, the militant Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) reported.
The killing of 35-year-old Julius Broce Barellano, KMP said, may have something to do with his advocacy as farmer-leader and the struggle of the group for possession of their CARP-awarded land by the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR).
Barellano chaired Hacienda Medina Farmworkers Association, a local affiliate of the National Federation of Sugar Workers (NFSW) in San Carlos City, Negros Occidental.
Reports reaching KMP said the victim was shot by the still unidentified assailants around 8:30 a.m. in San Carlos City on Wednesday morning. He was rushed to a hospital but succumbed to bullet wounds in the body.
Although a farmer, Barellano was moonlighting as a host of a radio program in Radyo Bandera.
He was the 27th victim of political killing in Negros, and the 134th victim of extrajudicial killings under the Duterte administration, per the count of nongovernment groups.
According to NFSW, Barellano is among the leaders of a land dispute involving farm workers of Hacienda Medina and a certain Wellington Uy.
KMP said Hacienda Medina covers 140 hectares of agricultural land, and farm workers there have been tilling the land as tenants before the land was covered by a Notice of Coverage by DAR in 2013.
According to KMP, farm workers of Hacienda Medina are experiencing various forms of harassment by an alleged “private army”.