LEADERS of the B’laan tribes in South Cotabato, Sarangani, Sultan Kudarat and Davao del Sur have asked the Armed Forces to set up detachments in their ancestral lands as they fear attacks from communist rebels and other armed groups.
In a resolution signed on March 20 in General Santos City, the 10 B’laan tribal chieftains from the four provinces urged the military leadership to relocate the detachments in Datal Alyong and Kiamo in Davao Del Sur to the boundaries of their ancestral domains in Datal Biao and Salnaong, in Tampakan, South Cotabato; and Bongmal, Barangay Kimlawis, Davao del Sur.
This, the chieftains said, will prevent the entry of New People’s Army (NPA) members and other armed groups to their areas.
“We recognize the value of joint-assistance between the tribal groups and the Armed Forces when the situation needs it against threats from the NPA and other outside groups,” the resolution said.
“The Bongmal B’laan community is the only remaining pure B’laan Indigenous Peoples Community without Bisayans and other outsiders and where our customs and customary laws are very much alive,” it added.
They said the B’laan community volunteers have been defending and safeguarding the borders of sitio Gumuket Ayem, Bongmal including the Sagittarius Mines Inc. (SMI) properties from violent threats.
The B’laan chieftains, accompanied by their elders and clan leaders, said they do not want further bloodshed in their communities.
“Most of our families and other descendants of the B’laan tribes in Bongmal are surviving children of the unsolved massacres perpetrated by illegal logging operators and land grabbers. Some of those suspected of these murders are still there and they interfere in our communities’ internal affairs,” they said.
The tribe leaders added that the Armed Forces remain as their primary ally in maintaining peace and order in their ancestral lands.
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