Tribal leader decries killing of another tribal chief by armed group

From the Philippine News Agency (Feb 13): Tribal leader decries killing of another tribal chief by armed group

A tribal leader from a hinter municipality of a southern province in the region expressed his grief for the killing of another tribal chief by armed group believed to be New People’s Army (NPA) rebels recently.

Rico Maca, tribal leader of San Miguel and Chairman of the Indigenous People Crisis Committee of Surigao del Sur expressed his grief for the death of another tribal chief recently killed by armed group believed to be New People’s Army in the province, as well as to the bereaved family who now is calling for justice, according to an information released by the Philippine Information Agency 13 to the media outlets here in the region on Friday evening.

Maca is calling on the religious or faith-based organizations, the priests, nuns, cause-oriented groups, government agencies, the Office of the President and the media to unite and take real and visible actions to stop the violence inflicted by the NPAs to the lives of the indigenous people in Caraga region.

“We have been praying for years to receive justice for the other 428 tribal people (lumads) who were also killed and we cannot do this alone. We need each others’ help and cooperation. We need the government and the different organizations to be firm in response to our call to abate the misery and series of killings of our tribal(lumad) brothers. We cannot afford to lose more lives. We are human and we cannot allow these ruthless NPAs rule over us. We need to act now! I believed that humanity will still reign in us,” stressed Maca.

Maca’s call was made following the discovery of a dead man’s body riddled with bullet wounds,found buried in a mountainous area in Brgy. La Purisima, Cagwait, in Surigao del Sur on Sunday morning. It was later identified to be the remains of Cristituto Garcia, 54, a tribal leader belonging to the Manobo tribe and a resident of Sitio Hinayhayan, Cagwait, Surigao del Sur.

A former NPA member claimed that Garcia was forcibly taken by an armed group from his house and took him in front of his children in the evening of Nov. 15 last year. The armed group believed to be NPAs brought the victim to Sitio Cagburao, Cagwait, Surigao del Sur where he was accordingly shot. Garcia worked as a “Bantay Banwa” (Lumad Forest Guard) and was an active anti-illegal logging advocate.

The PIA information also said that Garcia’s death caused the commanding officer of the 36th Infantry (VALOR) Battalion, 4ID, Philippine Army based in Surigao del Sur Lt. Col. Randolph P. Rojas, to also condemn the said incident.

“We vehemently condemn the NPAs for the murder of another innocent lumad. The New People’s Army has already killed hundreds of innocent lumads in Mindanao and most of their victims came from Caraga region. We will continue to conduct security operations to protect the lumad communities in the province from that group who sows terror to them,” Rojas reportedly said.

The recent report of another lumad killing by the NPAs in Surigao del Sur, likewise prompted PIA 13 regional director Abner Caga to also condemn such act.

He called on the media, concerned organizations and localities to condemn such barbaric act.

“We are calling on our media partners to also give due attention to this incident just like how they took the scoop for news highlighting the ALCADEV members who were allegedly killed by the para military group.

We always believed that media has a vital role in presenting fair and balanced news information to the general public and we consider them our partners in creating an inform and decisive citizens in the society. More than 400 lumads were already killed by the NPAs with their families still awaiting for justice they deserved. These innocent lumads must also be given due attention more than the shameless NPAs,” Caga said.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=856568