Manabo leaders to declare pangayao vs. NPA after mayor’s death
MANOBO tribal leaders have agreed to a meeting in the aftermath of the execution of Mayor Dario Otaza and his son Tuesday morning. The venue is not yet set.
Datu Nestor Apas of the Langilan-Manobo tribe in Brgy.
Gupitan, Kapalong, Davao del Norte, said they are planning to convene with
tribal leaders to declare a pangayao
(roughly translated as tribal war) against the New People’s Army.
“We are really considering retaliation because of the series
of killings against our leaders by the NPA,” he said in a phone interview.
“The rebel group has been causing trouble in our community,”
he said.
“We will arrest their NGO and their (mass base} inside our
ancestral domain,” he said. “We will speak to them in our tribal court.”
Capt. Rhyan Batchar, 10th Infantry Division
Public Affairs head, said that they are extra careful about the violence
spilling over to the communities.
“We do not tolerate that,” he said of the planned tribal
war. “We will make sure that there won’t be any more killings.”
In a separate interview, Mr. Dulphing Ogan,Secretary General
of KALUMARAN, said that the move of Datu Apas will not have a good result on
the Indigenous People.
“They should know that this is not a good thing to do
because it will only serve to escalate conflict among the Lumads, Ogan said.
“We are calling on the Lumads not to pursue such action but
to settle for a peaceful negotiation to the conflict,” he added.
Artist sketch released
Supt. Martin Gamba,spokesperson of the Police Regional
Office XI, in an interview yesterday said they have released two facial
composites out of sixteen suspects in the killing of Mayor Dario Otaza and his
son Daryl based on the description of the witnesses.
‘We are asked Otaza’s wife and body guard to help them with
the sketch because they saw the suspects barge into their house and destroy
their CCTV,” Gamba said.
Gamba said that the suspects are allegedly members the New
People’s Army.
As of now, the 10th ID is closely coordinating with the
police in Loreto, Agusan del Sur in the ongoing investigation into the killing
of Mayor Dario Otaza and his son Tuesday morning.
“Whatever they need, we wil support it because their area of
interest where the NPA Sub-Regional Command 4 is operating covers also our
boundary in Monkayo and ComVal province,” he said.
But Apas also said that the military cannot prevent them on
their pangayao.
“We will show to them that we can stand on our own and
defend ourselves,” he added.
The New People’s Army have not yet released a statement
owning up to the killing.
The group has not sent communication nor posted a statement
on its website www.philippinerevolution.net.
Previously, Apas issued an appeal to the authorities for
swift justice.
“We are saddened by their deaths as they were brutally
killed by the New People’s Army,” he said.
He said that the mayor symbolized hope for the Lumads’ quest
for self-determination, just like Mayor Mario Okinlay who was also killed by
NPAs during a medical mission in Impasug-ong Bukidnon last year.
“What he has done in the municipality of Loreto
They believed that the killing was meant to silence them as
they try to fight for their way of living.
“Stop killing the Lumads,” he said. “Stop herding us on
trucks to join rallies.”
Capt. Joe Patrick Martinez, spokesperson of 4th
Infantry Division, said the mayor and son Daryl were hogtied and abducted from
their house in Baan Riverside, Butuan.
The incident occurred around 6:50 p.m. on Monday. as they
were herded inside a Starex van, believed to be commandeered by the NPA
disguised as NBI agents, the army said.
The two succumbed to multiple gunshot wounds on different
parts of the body.
http://mindanaotimes.net/tribes-retaliate/
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