A FUMING North Cotabato Governor Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza faced the media in a press conference Saturday morning while she was giving her take on the violent clash between policemen and protesters.
In a video uploaded on Facebook, Mendoza said: "Huwag niyong gawing staging ground ang North Cotabato," pertaining to politicians who vowed to help the nearly 4,500 hungry farmers who blocked portions of the Cotabato-Davao Highway in Kidapawan City to demand for calamity fund and rice provision.
"Bigla kayong darating, magbibigay ng bigas? Nang-i-insulto ba kayo o namumulitiko kayo?," Mendoza said.
The farmers were demanding government subsidies including the 15,000 sacks of rice that Mendoza allegedly promised to them as relief.
Members of the Duterte Presidential Campaign Team headed by Peter Laviña gathered more than 30 sacks of donated rice from those who have seen his post on Facebook Saturday morning to give aid to the farmers in Kidapawan.
Laviña also countered Mendoza, in a phone interview with Sun.Star Davao, saying: "That is the statement of a guilty politician who isn't able to perform her duties."
The team encouraged donors to only donate rice and not money. They took off at 4 p.m. to distribute the collected sacks of rice to North Cotabato.
Laviña, however, clarified that Duterte advised that they would not interfere with the ongoing trouble in Cotabato.
"We do not have intentions to interfere with the trouble there but there is a problem, people are getting harassed so we have to help," he added.
He also said that the move was initiated by the Davao media and it has nothing to do with politics as it was as he said, "purely humanitarian".
Actor Robin Padilla, who have been openly campaigning for Duterte, arrived in Kidapawan City Saturday afternoon to talk with the farmers and donated some 200 sacks of rice for the drought-stricken farmers.