Manilakbayan participants prepare to march off the ferry that carried them from Samar to Matnog, Sorsogon for the Luzon leg of their trek from Mindanao to Metro Manila. (image from Manilakbayan FB page)
The more than 700 lumad and human rights activists who left Mindanao early for Metro Manila to demand government action on their worsening plight arrived in Matnog, Sorsogon Friday morning to kick off the Luzon leg of their journey amid concerns over harassment and potential threats to their security in the National Capital Region.
Organizers of the Manilakbayan ng Mindanao, the third in as many years, said police flagged down one of their buses in Liloan, Leyte on Thursday, purportedly for lacking proper documents. However, the Land Transportation Office found nothing wrong with the vehicle’s papers.
On Wednesday, six military personnel apparently on a surveillance operation were apprehended by police and the Special Service Brigade of the University of the Philippines Diliman, where a “kampuhan” or solidarity camp is being prepared for the Manilakbayan participants when they arrive on Monday.
UP Chancellor Michael Tan confirmed the incident, first reported by the Philippine Collegian, and said one of the men introduced himself as an officer of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
Tan voiced concern noting the incident "violates an agreement between the university and the Department of National Defense (DND), dated June 30, 1989 and signed by UP President Jose V. Abueva and Department of National Defense Secretary Fidel Ramos.”
The men were turned over to Quezon City police.
But subsequent posts on the Collegian’s Facebook page reported continued sightings of what were described as uniformed military personnel inside the university campus.
Manilakbayan spokesman Jomorito “Datu Imbanwag” Goaynon, a Higaonon chieftain who is first nominee of the party-list Sulong Katribu, said the incidents at Leyte and UP indicated that government is “threatened with what we have to say” because “back in our communities, they can easily dismiss us, their victims, as mere casualties of war.”
The United Nations refugee agency recently said more than 6,000 persons, mostly lumad, are currently displaced throughout Mindanao, with the refugees saying they fled their communities because of militarization and atrocities committed either by soldiers or military-backed militias.
The bulk of the refugees are in Surigao del Sur, where more than 4,000 people continue to stay at the sports center in the provincial capital Tandag City where they sought refuge following the September 1 murders of Emerito Samarca, executive director of the Alternative Learning Center for Agricultural and Livelihood Development, and Manobo leaders Dionel Campos and Datu Bello Sinzo by the Magahat militia in Lianga town.
In the past, the military has touted the militias as “force multipliers” in counterinsurgency. However, it has recently taken to denying anything to do with the armed groups. But in the case of the Lianga murders, the Army has admitted troops were nearby but did nothing to intervene or apprehend the killers, for which it said a junior officer, who remains unidentified, will be put on court martial.
In August, Army Special Forces are also accused of murdering five Manobo kinsmen, including a blind 70-year old and two minors. Initially, the military claimed the fatalities were communist rebels slain in an encounter but a 15-year old survivor surfaced and said the victims were ordered out of their house and shot one by one.
Lumad refugees have also accused the military and paramilitary groups of occupying their villages as well as tribal schools set up by nongovernmental and religious organizations that security forces have openly accused of fomenting support for communist rebels.
http://www.interaksyon.com/article/119322/manilakbayan-reaches-luzon-amid-concerns-over-harassment-up-surveillance
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