NPA EXPLOITATION // Community Closes Down a School in Bukidnon

From DWDD, the AFP Civil Relations Service Radio Website (Oct 25): NPA EXPLOITATION // Community Closes Down a School in Bukidnon



KITAOTAO, Bukidnon (DWDD) – The people of Brgy. White Kulaman, Kitaotao, Bukidnon closed down a school in a nearby Sitio Dao in their community around 10:00 a.m., October 23, 2015. Led by their chieftain Felipe Cabugnason and the barangay council together with the tribal elders, they executed what they claim to be as their right to eradicate and prevent any institution that poses threat to their community. The closure was formally expressed by Cabugnason to the teachers and students present at the school. With the request of the local populace and through a memorandum from the barangay council the closure was done orderly and peacefully with the objective of saving the future of the children of White Kulaman from what they claim as exploitation of the NPA rebels utilizing the said school as a venue in instilling violence and armed struggle.

Father Fausto Tentorio Memorial School, a private school ran by the Mindanao Interfaith Services Foundation, Incorporated (MISFI) in Sitio Dao, Brgy. White Kulaman, Kitaotao, Bukidnon has been claimed by the local residents as a school established by the NPA rebels. “Ang Father Fausto Tentorio Memorial School gisurvey ug gipatindog kini sa mga NPA nga nagpaila lamang kanamo nga sila si Ka Ebyang, Ka Macoy ug Ka Esok, nga mga miyembro sa Guerilla Front 53. Ang mga katawhan ra gihapon sa White Kulaman ang nagpahina ug nagtindog sa maong eskwelahan tungod sa pagmandar kanamo sa NPA. Grabe ang amoang singot ug kahago apan gibuhat namo kini tungod sa kahadlok ug wala kami bayari sa bisag unsa nga kahago ug materyales nga amoang giapod-apod aron matindog ang eskwelahan. Ug karon nga wala na ang mga NPA, gusto namo nga mga katawhan sa White Kulaman nga sirad-an ang maong eskwelahan ug ipapahawa dinhi ang nagdumala niini kay nasayod kami nga iya kini sa komunista nga eskwelahan.” (Father Fausto Tentorio Memorial School was established through the NPA. It was through certain NPA members who introduced themselves as Ka Ebyang, Ka Macoy and Ka Esok that the site was surveyed and the school was established. It was the people of White Kulaman who worked together to put up the school as what the NPA demanded from us. We have painstakingly worked and provided the materials without pay out of fear fromthese rebels. And now that the NPA rebels are gone, we want the school closed and ask those who manage the school to leave this place because we are aware that this school is ran by communists.) says Cabugnason.

Cabugnason has further stated that the closure was done orderly. “Ang katawhan sa Barangay White kulaman mi-padayag sa ilang katungod pinaagi sa pagpasira sa eskwelahan sa MISFI nga dinhi nahimutang sa Sitio Dao, White Kulaman, Kitaotao, Bukidnon. Kini nagmalampuson uban ang kahusay ug kalinaw. Dili tinuod nga gi demolish or gisunog ang eskwelahan kon dili gisirad-an lamang sa katawhan, gipapauli ang mga magtutudlo uban sa pipila ka mga bata nga mikuyog kanila nga wala gayoy bisan gamay nga tatsa. Ug ang pipila ka mga bata mikuyog sa ilang mga ginikanan, ug mga pariente. Ang mga bata nga naapektaran sa maong pagpasirado sa eskwelahan sa MISFI amoang tabangan nga makabalhin sa White Kulaman Integrated School, sigon sa giya ug tambag sa DepEd-Bukidnon.” (The people of Barangay White Kulaman has expressed their right in the closure of the school ran by the MISFI here in Sitio Dao, White Kulaman, Kitaotao, Bukidnon. The activity was done in a peaceful and orderly manner. It is not true that the school was demolished and burned. Rather, the local populace closed it down. The teachers were respectfully asked to go home together with some of their pupils. None of them were hurt. Some of the pupils went back to their parents and their relatives. We will help all these pupils to transfer to White Kulaman Integrated School upon their desire as well as their parents’ as advised by the DepEd of Bukidnon.) Cabugnason further stated.

It can be recalled that on October 7, 2015, a peace dialogue was facilitated by the 403rd Infantry Brigade and the 8th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army, among the barangay council members and residents of White Kulaman, representatives from the NCIP, DepEd and DOJ of the province of Bukidnon, and the Mindanao Interfaith Services FoundationIncorporated. The dialogue intended to have the parties discuss the demand of the local populace of Brgy. White Kulaman to close the Father Fausto Tentorio Memorial School situated in Sitio Dao of the said barangay and settle the matter peacefully with the Philippine Army as the mediator. Unfortunately, representatives from MISFI failed to show up during the dialogue. It was agreed however that the DepEd-Bukidnon will forward its recommendation to the its regional office stating therein that the said school has failed to comply with certain requirements like the accessibility. A river that separates the school from the community poses a threat to the children while its proximity to an established White Kulaman Integrated School violates a provision that private schools should not be within a 2-km radius from established schools. Meantime, the NCIP mentioned that there was no Free Prior and Informed Consent or FPIC that the MISFI has executed but can file the same with the consent of the tribal elders in the ancestral domain situated in White Kulaman. FPIC is a requirement for any institution prior to establishment of any project or the conduct of any activity within the ancestral domain of the indigenous peoples.

Conrado T. Anlimbas, a tribal elder of the Tigwahanon tribe in White Kulaman, who also acts as the IP Mandatory Representative to the barangay council, claims that the school was established without going through the process provided for under the IPRA Law or the Indigenous People’s Rights Act of 1997. “Ang MISFI misulod kini sa amoang yutang kabilin dinhi sa White Kulaman nga walay pananghid sa tribu. Wala kini magtuman sa FPIC o Free Prior and Informed Consent. Dili namo gusto, kami nga mga Lumad, nga magpadayon ang maong eskwelahan kay mao kini ang dangpanan sa mga rebeldeng NPA.” (MISFI has entered our ancestral land without permission from the Lumads. They did not even executed an FPIC or Free Prior and Informed Consent. We do not want this school to continue their operation in our community because the NPA is using this as a shelter.) says Conrado Anlimbas.

Meanwhile, Venus Donggo, also a Lumad and a resident of White Kulaman, says that the land where the school is situated belongs to the Lumads of White Kulaman. “Ang yuta nga gitukuran nila anang eskwelahan yuta kana sa lumad. Ila kanang giilog sa amoa nga walay bili. Katungod namo nga ipasira kana kay amoa man kini nga komunidad ug amoa kini nga yutang kabilin. Nasayod mi nga kana nga eskwelahan latayanan kana sa mga NPA ug dili na namo gusto ug NPA diri kay gusto namo magpuyo nga malinawon.” (The land where the school was established is owned by the Lumads. They took it from us without cost. It is our right to close that school because this is our community and this is our ancestral land. We are aware that the school is the NPA’s link to the community and we do not want the NPA because we want to live our lives in peace.) says Venus Donggo. PAO 8IB / MCAG

http://dwdd.com.ph/2015/npa-exploitation-community-closes-down-a-school-in-bukidnon/