From the Philippine News Agency (Feb 25, 2019): Davao City tribe declares NPA 'persona non grata'
Close to 600 members of the Obu-Manobo tribe in the far-flung village of Tambobong, Baguio District, here declared the communist New People's Army (NPA) as "persona non grata" in their ancestral lands.
The "persona non grata" declaration -- literally meaning "unwelcome person" -- came during Monday's culmination activity of the three-day peace-building seminar attended by the tribe.
Datu Joel Unad, chairman of the Mindanao Indigenous Peoples Council of Elders, said the three-day seminar also resulted in the passing of a joint barangay and tribal council resolution calling for the closure of an alleged NPA-supported school run by the Mindanao Interfaith Services Foundation Inc. (MISFI) in the area.
Unad said the villagers also hailed the surrender of 30 members of the Militia ng Bayan, a mass-based support group of the NPA and its mother organization, the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). The CPP-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union.
Unad said the peace-building seminar was attended by 71 tribal leaders from Davao City, North Cotabato and Bukidnon, who have all rejected the influence of the CPP-NPA in their communities.
He said the Mindanao Indigenous Peoples Council of Elders organized the seminar "to let the IPs understand about the government’s peace and development program."
He said majority of the 600 seminar participants are former supporters of the NPA but have already pledged loyalty to the government.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1062914
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.