Datu Guibang Apoga (middle) is leading the call for the closure of the Salugpungan Ta'Tanu Igkanugon Community Learning Centers as they are allegedly operated by the New Peoples Army.
TALAINGOD, Davao del Norte —Having waged a tribal war with the government in the hinterlands of Bukidnon and Davao del Norte alongside the communist group New People’s Army (NPA), Datu Guibang Apoga is pressing for the closure of a school allegedly operated by the NPA.
In his recent testimony during an inquiry of the House Committee on Indigenous Cultural Communities and Indigenous Peoples, Datu Apoga brushed aside allegations that the military had used its influence over the Ata-Manobo community at Sitio Nasilaban in Barangay Palma Gil to close the Salugpungan Ta’ Tanu Igkanugon Community Learning Center in the area.
Chaired by Representative Allen Jesse C. Mangaoang, the committee sent a team on April 17 to Sitio Nasilaban in coordination with the Presidential Adviser on Indigenous Peoples Concerns and the Mindanao Indigenous Peoples’ Council of Elders.
Describing himself as an elderly who had gone weary of continuing the rebellion, Apoga professed of having desired for “peace and order” to set in his Ata- Manobo community in Sitio Nasilaban, an hour and a half away from the municipal hall of Talaingod in Davao del Norte.
Initiated closure of Salugpungan
Apoga owned up initiating the closure of the Salugpungan School in Sitio Nasilaban together with other Ata-Manobo tribal leaders because he had seen the danger of such school which he said had sown division among the members of his tribe, as some of them went elsewhere to join protest rallies against the government.
“Kami ang nagtukod ana, kami pud mismo ang nagsirado (We built it, we were the ones who closed it),” he said in native tongue interpreted by his daughter Maling Apoga.
“Dili na tinuod nga militarya ang nagpasirado anang eskwelahan kundili kami mismo ang nagopasierado sa eskwelahan tawag ug salugpungan. (It is not true that the military closed it but we closed the school called salugpungan),” he said added.
A "Salugpungan" school in Talaingod, Davao del Norte.
In November 2018, Apoga sent a letter to the Municipal Peace and Order Council (MPOC) asking for intervention regarding the operation of Salugpungan School which he, together with other tribal leaders, wanted closed.
The content of the letter was read during the MPOC meeting on November 16, 2018. A resolution signed by more than 10 tribal leaders regarding their bid to stop the operation of Salugpungan School in Nasilaban was also read during that MPOC meeting.
The resolution signified their unified stand against the continued operation of the Salugpungan school which they allegedly found to have been twisting teachings for students to “go against the government.”
The military cares
Apoga said he realized that tales about the recent atrocities of the military were lies. Recalling his years in rebellion, he said they were told that once they saw a military, “we should run away for we would be killed.”
Apoga said members of his tribe who were gripped by fear went their separate ways and had even gone beyond his way of calling them back together as they went with the flow of “bakwits.”
Maling Apoga admitted having gone with the bakwits, the vernacular for evacuate.
“Sige lang mi pasabuton nga magbakwit ta dido para atong ipakita sa gobyerno ang atong kusog isip mga lumad, nga diay dili maayo nga sige ug bakwit batok gobyerno, sige gunit karatola nga magdaut sa gobyerno (We were made to understand that we have to evacuate there so we would show the government the power of indigenous peoples. We realized it’s not good to always go on evacuating and to go on holding banners bringing down the government.),” Maling said.
As Datu Apoga and daughter Maling returned to the fold of the government, even the commanding officer of the military was there to meet them. Contrary to what they were made to believe, they were taken cared for, Maling said.
“Gipalangga man siya sa mga sundalo; gidawat siya ug maayo… ug gina suportar pa jud siya maam (He was cared for; he was received well and supported.)," Maling told the Office of the Presidential Adviser on IP Concerns, referring to the way the military treated Datu Apoga.
https://pia.gov.ph/news/articles/1021184
In November 2018, Apoga sent a letter to the Municipal Peace and Order Council (MPOC) asking for intervention regarding the operation of Salugpungan School which he, together with other tribal leaders, wanted closed.
The content of the letter was read during the MPOC meeting on November 16, 2018. A resolution signed by more than 10 tribal leaders regarding their bid to stop the operation of Salugpungan School in Nasilaban was also read during that MPOC meeting.
The resolution signified their unified stand against the continued operation of the Salugpungan school which they allegedly found to have been twisting teachings for students to “go against the government.”
The military cares
Apoga said he realized that tales about the recent atrocities of the military were lies. Recalling his years in rebellion, he said they were told that once they saw a military, “we should run away for we would be killed.”
Apoga said members of his tribe who were gripped by fear went their separate ways and had even gone beyond his way of calling them back together as they went with the flow of “bakwits.”
Maling Apoga admitted having gone with the bakwits, the vernacular for evacuate.
“Sige lang mi pasabuton nga magbakwit ta dido para atong ipakita sa gobyerno ang atong kusog isip mga lumad, nga diay dili maayo nga sige ug bakwit batok gobyerno, sige gunit karatola nga magdaut sa gobyerno (We were made to understand that we have to evacuate there so we would show the government the power of indigenous peoples. We realized it’s not good to always go on evacuating and to go on holding banners bringing down the government.),” Maling said.
As Datu Apoga and daughter Maling returned to the fold of the government, even the commanding officer of the military was there to meet them. Contrary to what they were made to believe, they were taken cared for, Maling said.
“Gipalangga man siya sa mga sundalo; gidawat siya ug maayo… ug gina suportar pa jud siya maam (He was cared for; he was received well and supported.)," Maling told the Office of the Presidential Adviser on IP Concerns, referring to the way the military treated Datu Apoga.
https://pia.gov.ph/news/articles/1021184
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