CPP/Ang Bayan: 1,000 Lumad evacuate in Agusan del Sur

English language translation of an Ang Bayan propaganda article posted to the CPP Website (Feb 7): 1,000 Lumad evacuate in Agusan del Sur

Up to 1,515 members of the Banwaon tribe evacuated from Barangay Balit, San Luis, Agusan del Sur due to the 26th IB’s relentless military operations. The evacuees have been temporarily taking shelter at the Urios Elementary School in Barangay Balit since the last week of January.

They were forced to flee their homes out of fear for paramilitaries and elements of the 26th IB led by Lt. Col. Rolando Dumawa.

There have been documented human rights violations victimizing 969 individuals in four villages of San Luis. According to KARAPATAN-Caraga Region, the military operations are aimed at paving the way for the entry of mining corporations, among them Tambuli Mining Company Inc. and Malampay Mining Inc. which will be engaging in open-pit mining to extract gold.

Up to 22 individuals were victims of harassment and intimidation. Ten civilians were forced to serve as guides in military operations, seven forced to surrender as alleged members of the New People’s Army and 11 were victimized by indiscriminate firing. Three families were robbed. And lately, a pregnant woman and two children were reported to have died at the evacuation center.

Earlier, Balit village chief Nicasio Precioso Sr. was gunned down on December 22, 2014 after a heated argument with Sgt. Andres Villaganas of the 26th IB.

The military and Lumad bandits are conniving to enable the mining companies’ entry, said KALUMARAN, an alliance of Lumad organizations in Mindanao. The AFP has been training Lumad bandits to join the Investment Defense Force (IDF) which focuses on providing security to mines, plantations and other big businesses.

The IDF is being used to terrorize the datus of Barangay Binicalan who have refused to sign the Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) document which would allow the entry of the mining companies. The latter want to seize the Banwaon’s ancestral lands through a unified Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT), according to Datu Bagala Mauro Mansilyohan, a Banwaon leader in Sitio Tabon-Tabon, Mahagsay, San Luis.

[Ang Bayan is the official news organ of the Communist Party of the Philippines and is issued by the CPP Central Committee. It provides news about the work of the Party as well as its analysis of and views on current issues. Ang Bayan comes out fortnightly and is published in Pilipino, Bisaya, Ilokano, Waray, Hiligaynon and English.]

http://www.philippinerevolution.net/publications/ang_bayan/20150207/1-000-lumad-evacuate-in-agusan-del-sur