Lumads beg gov’t agencies into addressing insurgency in IP areas
AT LEAST 700 Lumads from different tribes in the region
staged simultaneous protest rallies in front of government offices for alleged
inaction on the alleged abuses committed by the New People’s Army.
Ubo-Manobo Datu Manuel Lawingan of Marilog District said
that the statements of the activists regarding the militarization and
hamletting by the military on Lumad villages are not true.
He also insisted that it’s the communist rebels who are the
ones occupying communities and manipulating some Lumads into supporting their
cause.
“The NPA is responsible for the hardships of the tribal
communities,” he said, adding that the National Democratic Front has been
recruiting their children into fighting for the armed wing.
“That’s the reason why our children could not get the proper
education because they are being sweet-talked into joining the NPA for a better
future,” he added.
The group of lumads protested in front of the Commission of
Human Rights (CHR), National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP),
Department of Justice (DOJ), Davao City Police Office (DCPO) and in the UCCP
Haran, where about 660 individuals have been seeking temporary shelter.
“The demand of the Lumads at Haran
Meanwhile, lawyer Geroncio R. Aguio, regional director of
the NCIP-XI, said that in attaining peace and declaring indigenous communities
across the country as “peace zones” means pulling out the military troops, the
NPA and dismantling paramilitary groups.
“We are calling on both the military and the NPA to declare
the ancestral domains as ‘peace zones’ but both of them are not heeding,” Aguio
added.
“There are some who will visit the office to complain but
when we ask them to formalize their complaints so we can give the proper
resolution, they can’t answer our questions properly,” he said.
In April last year, hundreds of Lumads from Davao del Norte
fled to the city and demanded the pullout of military troops stationed to fend
off an insurgency, dating back decades, to the hinterlands.
The Lumads went home when Mayor Rodrigo Duterte mediated and
warned the military against entering the communities.
But a year later, indigenous families again sought the
sanctuary of the city claiming that their schools have become the battleground
in the anti-insurgency campaign of the military.
However, Lt. Vergel Lacambra, former information officer of
10th infantry Division, dismissed the allegations.
“There is no truth in allegations,” said Lacambra, adding
that “The Municipal Tribal Council of Elders memorandums for the closure of
Salugpongan Ta’Tanu Igkanogon Community Learning Center (STTICLC) in Talaingod
dated 25 April 2015 and 04 May 2015 have affirmed the perilous teachings of the
school to the pupils.”
During the public inquiry conducted by the CHR central
office in September, the Lumad leaders, who were sheltering in Haran
They claimed Lumad that the paramilitary groups were allowed
to run rampant on the communities in support to the government’s
counter-insurgency campaign. They accused the Alamara of perpetrating killings
in their area while the military looked the other way.
Of the total 809 individuals temporarily taking refuge in
the UCCP Haran compound, only 660 individuals are now left after 149 individual
decided to return to their communities in Bukidnon.
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