Monday, October 19, 2015

Tribal leader killed, 86 tribesmen evacuate to Bukidnon

From the Philippine News Agency (Oct 19): Tribal leader killed, 86 tribesmen evacuate to Bukidnon

About 86 members of the indigenous peoples have evacuated after a tribal leader was reportedly killed by communist rebels of the New People’s Army (NPA), the military reported Monday.

A military report reaching here Monday said that about 200 NPA rebels attacked members of a small Talaandig village on the border of Agusan Del Sur and Bukidnon last week, which prompted the mass evacuation of the IPs to Cabanglasan in Bukidnon.

Capt. Norman M. Tagros, the spokesperson of the army’s Bukidnon based 8th Infantry Battalion, said that the IPs reported of the brutal murder of Rene Bucalas or “Datu Manhadukan Sandigan,’ by the NPA rebels.

He said that the NPA killed “Datu Manhadukan Sandigan” in the presence of his fellow tribesmen in the village of Sitio Katalawan of La Paz, Agusan De Sur for refusing to support the communist rebels.

This incident led the remaining Talaandigs to flee their ancestral land towards the municipality of Cabanglasan, Bukidnon, to seek refuge, Tagros said.

He said that the horrified tribesmen, carrying the old and the young children, braved through rains and dangerous mountain trails for days – avoiding traditional routes and without food – until they reached their relatives in Cabanglasan, Bukidnon.

Lilongan Bucalas, a.k.a. as “Datu Manlomakad” who acts as the tribal chieftain of the group, disclosed that the NPA rebels have murdered members of their tribe as early as in 1992.

Tagros said that Bucalas told the military that about 10 of his fellow tribesmen were killed by NPA rebels in their community for refusing to support and join the communist movement.

He said that Lt. Col. Lennon G. Babilonia, commanding officer of the army’s 8IB, has condemned that terroristic acts of the NPA rebels against the tribal communities in Northern Mindanao.

“It is deplorable that this thing has to happen,” Babilonia said as he ordered the deployment of army troops in tribal communities to protect the Lumads from the atrocities of the communist NPA rebels.

Tagros said that the military is now coordinating with the local government unit of Cabanglasan so as to give necessary assistance to the tribal evacuees such as security, food clothing and shelter.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=816917

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