Kalinaw News: Army Supports NTF-ELCAC’s Strengthen of IP Communities in Caraga

Posted to Kalinaw News (Aug 8, 2020): Army Supports NTF-ELCAC’s Strengthen of IP Communities in Caraga

BANCASI, Butuan City – The 402nd Infantry (Stingers) Brigade supports the strengthening of IP communities in Caraga during the Inter Agency Visitations to Indigenous Cultural Communities/Indigenous Peoples (ICCs/IPs) within its area of responsibility at Brgy Simbalan, Buenavista, Agusan del Norte and Brgy Salug, Esperanza, Agusan del Sur on August 3 and 4, 2020, respectively.

The inter-agency visit to IP communities was initiated by the National Task Force in Ending Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) spearheaded by Secretary Allen A Capuyan, the Executive Director and at the same time the National Commission on Indigenous People (NCIP) Chairman facilitated by the Regional Director of NCIP Caraga, Atty Marlon Bosantog and the 402nd Infantry (Stingers) Brigade Commander, Brigadier General Maurito L Licudine, in close partnership with the provincial governments of Agusan del Norte and Agusan del Sur supported by the Local Government Units of Buenavista, ADN and Esperanza, ADS together with other national government agencies namely: Technical Education and Services Development Agency (TESDA), Department of Agriculture (DA), Bureau of Fish and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), and Commission on Human Rights (CHR).

The visit aimed to gain first-hand knowledge on how the ICCs/IPs are coping with the COVID-19 pandemic, food security programs and progress in their ancestral domain management and the violence and human rights violations being perpetrated against the ICCs/IPs by the CPP-NPA Terrorists (CNTs).

The 2-Day inter agency visit was attended by about three hundred fifty (350) IPs coming mostly from the Higaonon and Manobo tribes of Las Nieves, Buenavista, Nasipit and Carmen (LASBUENASCAR) in Agusan del Norte and the Higaonon and Banwaon tribes of Esperanza town, Agusan del Sur. Said areas are within the area of operations of 23rd Infantry Battalion and 26th Infantry Battalion, respectively, and are all under the area of responsibility (AOR) of the 402nd Infantry Brigade.

Brigadier General Maurito L Licudine backed the endeavors of the NTF ELCAC and the NCIP in uplifting the welfare of the IPs and strengthening their communities since for more than five decades, they were subjected to exploitation and harassment by the Communist Terrorist Group (CTG) in their ancestral domains.

He said “The strengthening of IP communities will definitely prevent the presence of CNTs in ancestral domains. IPs were deceived and manipulated and is one of the major sources of recruits of the CNTs while their ancestral domains are being utilized as guerrilla bases and became safe haven for the CNTs due to its ideal terrain and presence of rich mineral resources”.

During the discussion of programs and projects of the agencies intended for the IPs and their ancestral domains (AD), Licudine indicated that courage, genuine service and ultimately the soldier’s lives are the contributions of the Philippine Army in safeguarding the rights of IP and securing them form the threat and pestilence of CTG.

Licudine added that in order to pave the way of strengthening the IP communities, his brigade will continue clearing the affected barangays in the ancestral domains that are mostly located in the Geographically Isolated, Disadvantaged and Conflict Affected Areas (GIDCAs). He said that IP leaders play a critical role towards this initiative and can greatly influence members of their tribe to take action against the CTG.

Meanwhile, the Tribal leaders and members present during the 2-Day visit warmly welcomed the presence of Secretary Capuyan in their ancestral domains. They had high hopes that their sentiments concerning mainly on the security, peace and order their application of Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT) and the accreditation of the Municipal and Brgy IP Mandatory Representatives (IPMRs) will be addressed as these issues greatly affect the development of their ancestral domains.

Secretary Capuyan and RD Bosantog recognized the pressing issues that were presented by Tribal leaders in the series of visitations. Sec Capuyan emphasized the mandate of NCIP to protect and promote the interest of the ICCs/IPs in line with the principles of the four (4) bundles of rights enshrined in the IPRA law. Secretary Capuyan also presented innovative ways to nurture their ADs that will benefit the IPs stressing that the IPRA must be used to ensure that IP rights are protected and upheld.

IP leaders who led the voice of IPs during the consultations were Datu Nilo Manpatilan, Ex-Officio Sangguniang Panlalawigan Member and IPMR of Agusan del Sur, and Datu Eddie “Bawang” Ampiyawan, IPMR of Agusan del Norte. During their messages, Datu Manpatilan and Datu Ampiyawan both assured their support to the government on behalf of the tribes they represent. Hon Manpatilan said “We assure that our communities will continuously cooperate with the peace and development efforts of the government. We are determined to support Sec Capuyan and the line agencies in the development of our ADs and tribal members”.

“We must choose a side. We have only one government, the government of the Republic of the Philippines. Insurgency will not end unless we take part in this enormous task of ending the local communist armed conflict. We must be united to resist the CTG allied left-leaning groups, stop their recruitment and cripple their financial and material support. As member agency on the twelve (12) clusters of the NTF ELCAC, you can be assured that your Army will not waver in fighting for your rights and continue to orchestrate infrastructure projects and basic services that will accelerate the development of IP communities”, BGen Licudine added.

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