4 dead, 1 wounded in Negros Oriental land dispute

BACOLOD CITY: Four farmers were killed while another was wounded in a shooting incident allegedly over land conflict in Zamboanguita, Negros Oriental. Killed were Jessebel Amantillo Abayle, 34; Carmelina Garingo Amantillo, 57 and Consolacion Esparcia Cadevida, 66, all residents of Sitio Bondo, Barangay Napacao in Siaton; and Felimon Torres Molero, 66, of Sitio Salungan, Barangay Mayabon in Zamboanguita, Negros Oriental.

Wounded was Lito Prudencia de Jesus, 28, of Barangay Mantiquil in Siaton, who was brought to a hospital in Dumaguete City. Insp. Rafael Serion, Siaton police chief, said the farmers were shot while resting after harvesting in a sugarcane plantation supposedly covered by the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) at Barangay Napacao. Police investigation showed that security guards of the estate owned by Don Gaspar Vicente shot the farmers at close range. A hand grenade was also lobbed and exploded at the farmers, Serion added.