About 1,000 “Lumads” of various tribes lighted candles on
the occasion of the National Indigenous People’s Month in this tribal capital
of Northern Mindanao , the military said
Thursday.
Capt. Norman M. Tagros, the spokesperson of the army’s 8th
Infantry Battalion, said that the Lumads (tribal natives) simultaneously
lighted the candles to dramatize the quest for lasting peace in the tribal
communities in Mindanao .
The Lumads also denounced the atrocious killings of the
tribal leaders purportedly by communist rebels of the New People’s Army (NPA)
and enjoined the relatives, friends, and Lumads who have joined the rebel
movement to denounce armed struggle and live normal lives.
Anaclito Sagula a.k.a. “Datu Mantungkaban,” one of the
respected leaders of the Higa-onon tribal communities, urged the NPA rebels to
spare the tribal communities from the armed struggle and leave the ancestral
lands.
In his message of peace, Sagula said that the presence of
the NPA rebels in the ancestral lands endanger the lives of the Lumads because
once the government troopers come, the ancestral land is turned into a
strife-torn tribal homeland.
Tagros said that Lumads also offered a prayer for the late
Mayor Mario T. Okinlay, the town mayor of Impasugong, Bukidnon and the late
Mayor Dario E. Otaza, of Loreto town in Agusan
Del Sur.
Both Okinlay and Otaza were Lumads who led their people
toward peace and prosperity, but were murdered by the NPAs who, after their
brutal executions, made trumped-up charges in order to justify the barbaric
killings, Martinez
Lt. Col.Lennon G. Babilonia, Commanding Officer of the
8IB based here, thanked the Lumads for the continued support and commitment to
peace.
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