Saturday, March 20, 2021

3 killed, thousands displaced in latest Maguindanao clash

From MindaNews (Mar 19, 2021): 3 killed, thousands displaced in latest Maguindanao clash (By FERDINANDH B. CABRERA)

Some 15,000 individuals (not 60,000 as earlier reported), were forced to flee their homes after government forces and the breakaway Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) figured in a clash in Maguindanao on Thursday.

Three rebels were reportedly killed in the encounter.


Armored vehicles of the military in Datu Saudi Ampatuan. Photo courtesy of Nena Guiapal

The clash erupted early morning on Thursday in Kitango village in Datu Saudi Ampatuan town and spread to neighboring areas where most residents marked the 53rd anniversary of the Jabidah Massacre and held a peace caravan urging for the extension of the Bangsamoro transition to 2025.

The local government of Datu Saudi Ampatuan recorded around 900 families (not 9,000 families as earlier reported), displaced as tensions escalated, municipal administrator Musib Tan said.

In Datu Salibo town, an initial count of 1,754 families fled Pamalian and Pusao villages.

The clash also affected some communities in Mamasapano, Datu Piang, Shariff Aguak and Shariff Saydona towns.

The Ministry of Social Welfare and Development (MSSD) and the Bangsamoro Rapid Emergency Action Response Team will conduct a validation and assessment of the displacement.

They have distributed sleeping kits and planned to visit Pamalian and Pusao on Friday if the military would allow them MSSD Minister Raisa Jajurie said.

“After the validation and assessment today, we will know by then the exact numbers and what assistance we can immediately provide, LGUs are working also,” she said.


Lt. Col. John Paul Baldomar, spokesperson of Joint Task Force Central of the 6th Infantry Division, said they responded to sightings of the BIFF and reports that Mohaimen Animbang alias Commander Karialan was planning to launch an attack.

The military used mortars, howitzers and tanks resulting in the closure of the road between Datu Saudi Ampatuan and Datu Piang town for over three hours.

Reports said the conflict was triggered by the construction of a building for the Joint Peace and Security Team (JPST), a peacekeeping force tasked to provide security to residents inside the six Moro Islamic Liberation Front camps recognized by the government.

The JPST comprises decommissioned MILF fighters, the military and Philippine National Police.


Abu Jehad, spokesperson of the BIFF under Karialan said his commander was enraged by the installation of the JPST inside the lot owned by the rebel leader’s family.

“We wanted them out, they have not communicated nor coordinated properly to install facility inside their nemesis’ house. And what’s worst, we were tagged as terrorists in our own home lot,” Jehad said.

He admitted they lost three of their comrades during the encounter.
(Ferdinandh Cabrera/MindaNews)

https://www.mindanews.com/top-stories/2021/03/3-killed-thousands-displaced-in-latest-maguindanao-clash/

The IP struggle continues as NCIP red-tags and bans use of “Lumad,” the collective word for Mindanao IPs since the late 1970s

From MindaNews (Mar 20, 2021): The IP struggle continues as NCIP red-tags and bans use of “Lumad,” the collective word for Mindanao IPs since the late 1970s (By CAROLYN O. ARGUILLAS)

Lumad leaders and eminent Mindanawon scholars are questioning the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples’ (NCIP) resolution red-tagging and banning the use of “Lumad” to refer to Indigenous Peoples (IPs) in Mindanao, even as this Cebuano word has been used since the late 1970s as a collective term for at least 20 non-Moro IPs across southern Philippines.

‘Lumad’ means indigenous or native.

The NCIP en banc passed on March 2 Resolution 08-009-2021 “denouncing the use of the term ‘Lumad’ to refer to indigenous cultural communities / indigenous peoples (ICCs/IPs) particularly of Mindanao and enjoining the public to address ICCs/IPs by their respective ICC/IP affiliation or ethnolinguistic group.”

The NCIP claimed that the word’s “emergence and continued use is marred by its association with the CPP (Communist Party of the Philippines), NDF (National Democratic Front) and NPA (New Peoples’ Army) whose ideologies are not consistent with the cultures, practices and beliefs of ICCs/IPs.”

NCIP resolution on “Lumad”

It claimed that in looking at the historical context of how the term ‘lumad’ emerged, “it is but just and proper, to put order and in order to correct the injustice committed” by the CPP, NDF, NPA “and to put a stop to the corruption of the IP struggle,” that the NCIP “condemns and denounces the use of the term ‘lumad’ to refer to the ICC/IP groups of the Philippines and more particularly to the ICC/IPs of Mindanao.”

“Lumad,” however, refers only to the IPs of Mindanao, specifically, the non-Moro IPs.

The NCIP cited only one source in its presentation of the “historical context” of ‘Lumad,’ – Datu Lito Omos, who is active in the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), and who traces the etymology of “Lumad” to 1986.

“Lumad” as a collective word for non-Moro IPs in Mindanao was first used in the 1970s.

The NCIP resolution wants the public to stop using ‘Lumad’ to refer to Mindanao’s IPs but urged the public to “use the respective ethnolinguistic group or Indigenous Cultural Communities, Indigenous Peoples, Katutubong Pamayanang Kultural or Katutubong Pamayanan when referring to IPs collectively.”

‘Lumad’ is the shorter version of ‘Katawhang Lumad’ which literally means Indigenous Peoples.

Idiocy

Redemptorist Brother Karl Gaspar, a Mindanawon anthropologist, sociologist, theologian and artist, told MindaNews that when he first heard about the NCIP’s resolution’s red-tagging and banning the use of the word ‘Lumad,’ he didn’t know exactly how to react.

“I thought I would laugh at the idiocy of our public servants in the NCIP who are mandated to serve our indigenous communities,” Gaspar said.

“At one level, kataw-anan gyod! (it’s really funny). I even thought morag nabuang na man ning mga taga-NCIP oy (the NCIP is acting like crazy). However, this is no laughing matter for it shows us how seriously misinformed the NCIP powers-that-be are in terms of the history of the Lumad Social Movement in Mindanao. One can even refer to them as ignoramus for not having checked available secondary literature, so that their move would have scholarly basis,” he said.

Gaspar wrote “The Lumad Social Movement” for a course under Professor Prospero Covar, acknowledged one of the pillars of Philippine Anthropology, while pursuing his PhD in Philippine Studies at the University of the Philippines in the late 1990s and having been a church worker since the 1970s, “I could claim to have a privileged historical view of how the term Lumad arose.” The essay was first published by the Alternative Forum for Research in Mindanao in 1997 and re-published in Aninaw, the journal of the Ateneo Institute of Anthropology at the Ateneo de Davao University in 2018.


Redemptorist Brother Karl Gaspar answers questions during the open forum of the ‘Civil Society Conversations on Democracy and Information” on August 23, 2019 at the Ateneo de Davao University. MindaNews photo by GREGORIO BUENO

He is also the author of several books on Lumads, including ‘Manobo Dreams in Arakan: A People’s Struggle to Keep Their Homeland” which won the 2012 National Book Award for Social Sciences,

Gaspar told MindaNews that when he realized that the NCIP was “taking this whole issue seriously and other branches of the State apparatus joined in the chorus to ban the word Lumad, I then realized how the anti-terror law is claiming more and more victims. This time, not just human persons are red-tagged, but innocent words like Lumad can also be red-tagged.”

He asked: “are we seeing the unfolding of a State that will now decide for us as to the vocabulary that we can use in referring to various individuals, groups, institutions? And if they succeed in demonizing the word Lumad, what other words will also be red-tagged? And if this is no longer enough for their counter-insurgency drive to succeed, is the next move to burn books where words like Lumad appear?”

Gaspar also noted that at various historical junctures not just in this country but in many other nation-states throughout the world, “red-tagging has resulted in the deaths of innocent civilians and the untold suffering of communities victimized by this red scare.”

“Profusely used”

The NCIP said “Lumad” has been “profusely used” by government offices, public officials and the public. President Rodrigo Duterte, who hails from Mindanao, even posed holding a sheet of paper marked with the message “Stop Lumad Killings” in September 2015, while still mayor of Davao City. As President, he also refers to IPs in Mindanao as Lumads.

The NCIP resolution claimed the word ‘Lumad’ was adopted by members of the Lumad Mindanao Peoples Foundation (LMPF) on June 26, 1986 during its founding congress in Kidapawan, North Cotabato and that “an ensuing meeting of the LMPF was conducted at the University of San Carlos in Talamban, Cebu to lay down the framework to use the term ‘lumad.’ From then on, the term gained popularity and was widely used to refer to ICCs/IPs.”

The NCIP resolution also claimed that the founding congress and subsequent meetings and activities of the LMPF “were initiated and sponsored” by the CPP, NDF, NPA.

There is no foundation named Lumad Mindanao Peoples Foundation. There was a LUMAD-Mindanao, a Lumad Mindanaw, and a Lumad Mindanaw Peoples Federation which, according to Jimid Mansayagan, chair of its Governing Council, was founded in September 1994 as a “genuine indigenous peoples organization with vision of asserting the inherent inalienable and collective rights to identity, land territory, self-determination and self-governance.”

The NCIP erred not only in the spelling, name of their federation and date of founding but also in claiming that the LMPF is the handiwork of the left, Mansayagan said, adding the LMPF in fact was a product of the Lumad leaders’ renunciation of alliance with the left.

Land is Life

The University of San Carlos meeting that the NCIP resolution referred to was actually the 2nd Land Congress on March 23 to 24, 1987, whose theme was “Land is Life.”

Mindanawon anthropologist Maricel Hilario-Patiño, told MindaNews that the Land Congress, was actually a follow-through of the policy consultation workshop called for by then Environment Secretary Carlos Dominguez (now Finance Secretary) and attended by representatives of the Ungnayang Pang-aghamtao (UGAT or the Anthropological Association in the Philippines), along with “technocrats, professionals, academicians, big business concessioners, etc. in January 1987.”


Cover of the Proceedings of the 2nd Land Congress, March 1987.

The Land Congress in March was attended by “250 participants from 20 tribal organizations 10 support organizations and six representatives from the government sector” and among the personalities present were UGAT Founding President and 1986 Constitutional Commissioner Ponciano Bennagen; Agusan del Sur OIC Governor Ceferino Paredes and his Provincial Attorney, Roan Libarios, Gregorio Andolana, then Representative-elect of North Cotabato, Prof. Owen Lynch, Fausto Lingating, Deputy Minister of the Office of Muslim Affairs and Cultural Communities and chair of the Consultative Assembly of Minority Peoples of the Philippines; and representatives of various offices and the Policy Advisory Group of the DENR.

Omos in a press conference of the NTF-ELCAC said he was in this Congress and that UGAT convened the meeting.

What was discussed were the issues on ancestral lands and ancestral domains affecting not only the Lumads in Mindanao but also the other IPs nationwide. The Congress was held just a month after the 1987 Constitution, which now vowed to address the historical injustices against the IPs nationwide, was ratified in a plebiscite.

The Land Congress was funded by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources through Secretary Dominguez, The Asia Foundation, SVD Provincialate, SSPS Cebu Communities, Episcopal Commission on Tribal Filipinos and University of San Carlos while the manuscript of the proceedings was printed courtesy of the Office for Southern Cultural Communities.

Hilario–Patiño said that among the highlights of the Congress was the validation of the proposed Executive Order Creating the Commission on Ancestral Domain.

“Many leaders I have talked to described that this was the first draft of IPRA (Indigenous Peoples Rights Act),” but she quoted Bennagen as saying that when this was submitted to President Aquino she said she would rather that it would pass through Congress because issuing Executive Orders is “like a Marcosian move.”

It took 10 years before Congress passed IPRA.

‘Bisaya’ as lingua franca

How “Lumad” became the collective term for non-Moro IPs in Mindanao, is traced to the late 1970s within the circles of the Catholic and Protestant churches with ministries for the IPs. Another version traces it to a 1986 assembly in Kidapawan, North Cotabato during the founding Congress of Lumad Mindanaw.

In both versions, however, the decision to use “Lumad” was reached by the IPs themselves, because while they came from various ethnic groups in Mindanao and spoke different languages, they could communicate with each other using Cebuano or what in Mindanao is commonly referred to as ‘Bisaya.’

“Lumad” was intended to distinguish them from the Moro who are also indigenous to Mindanao, and from the ‘Bisaya’ which had earlier become a generic word for “settler.”

For a time, Mindanao was referred to as “tri-people,” comprising the indigenous Moro and Lumad, and the settler population.


The National Cultural Minorities of Mindanao and Sulu: A Preliminary Study, 1974.

Historian Rudy Rodil recalls that as team leader in 1974 for a Study on the National Cultural Minorities of Mindanao under the Mindanao Regional Development Project of the Mindanao Development Administration, he learned that when leaders from various tribes meet, “automatic nga Bisaya ang lingua franca” because “diha lang sila magkasinabot” (they would automatically speak in Bisaya because that is the only way they could understand each other).

He said all their field interviews in the IP areas were in Bisaya. He recalled that even in the meeting of the Mindanao Highlanders Association or Mindahila, an organization of IP leaders, Bisaya was also the language used.

“Lumad” in the 1970s

In the 1970s, the use of the word ‘Lumad’ to refer to IPs in Mindanao started taking root during a series of conferences initiated by Catholic and Protestant churches in Mindanao with IP leaders. Note that this was a period under martial law and among those who suffered human rights violations were the Moro and IPs of Mindanao.

Martial law, however, was just part of the long-running problem of Moro and IPs in Mindanao who were marginalized and minoritized during the Spanish and American regimes and later by the Manila-based central government. For decades starting with the agricultural colonies set up in 1913, residents from the Visayas and Luzon were enticed to settle in resource-rich Mindanao, then being touted as “Land of Promise.” Part of the enticement were land policies favoring wave after wave of migrants.

Soon thereafter, Mindanao was opened up for plantations, logging, mining and fishing operations, displacing thousands of Lumad and Moro peoples.

The Mindanao church – both Catholic and Protestant – was active in fighting for the rights of Mindanao’s IPs.

Among those at the forefront in advocating IP rights was Bishop Francisco Claver, an IP himself from Northern Luzon who was Prelate Ordinary when the Prelature of Malaybalay was established in 1969 and its first Bishop when it became a Diocese in 1982; Mindanao’s other bishops, priests and nuns, including foreign missionaries assigned to Mindanao for several years, and church workers.

Various church formations were also set up, in the 1970s including the Mindanao–Sulu Secretariat of Social Action (MISSSA), the secretariat for all Social Action Centers of the Archdioceses, Dioceses and Prelatures of Mindanao.

The MISSSA convened the First Mindanao Regional Conference on Cultural Communities in Lake Sebu, Surallah, South Cotabato on February 5-7, 1974 “to give voice to the Mindanao minorities… a voice of anguish, frustration and fear; a voice crying out, almost without hope, appealing to the Christian communities of Mindanao.”

Exactly when the word ‘Lumad’ evolved into a collective term for non-Moro IPs in Mindanao cannot be ascertained but based on documents gathered by MindaNews and interviews with personalities who were active in church work in the 1970s, it was in the latter part of the decade.


Lumad newsletter, 1st issue, Jnauary-February 1979.

There was even a newsletter named ‘Lumad,’ a publication of the Mindanao-Sulu Conference on Justice and Development (MSCJD) which Claver chaired. The publication focused on IP issues. Written in ‘Bisaya,’ its first issue was January-February 1979 and among the articles was a report on a Regional Consultation on December 18 to 22, 1978 in Midsayap, North Cotabato.

“Pahayag sa mga Lumad”

A seven-paragraph “Pahayag sa mga Lumad” (Declaration of the Lumads) dated December 21, 1978, crafted during that conference, was also included in the newsletter.

The declaration asked “Kinsa kami” (who are we) and “Unsay nahitabo” (what is happening to us) and “Ngano nga naghimo kami niining pahayag?” (why are we making this declaration?)

Responding to their own query on who they are, the Declaration said: “Kami ang mga lumad sa Mindanao sama sa (We are the Lumads of Mindanao such as the) Manobo, Subanon, Tiruray, B’laan, Higa-ono, Tagabawa” who gathered in Midsayap for the assembly called for by the National Council of Churches in the Philippines and the MSCJD, to share experiences on problems affecting their communities in Mindanao, analyze their situation and plan on how to address these issues.

The participants said they made the declaration because of the spate of human rights violations that they experienced, including oppression, discrimination, harassment and trampling of their rights as “lumad sa Mindanao” (Lumads of Mindanao).

The declaration said they hope government, the church and other groups would attend to them so their communities can thrive and they can live in peace.

Pop culture

Beyond the church and Lumad communities, the use of “Lumad” to refer to IPs became so popular it encouraged migrants who settled in Mindanao to want to learn more about the Lumads and their cultures. There was a surge in pride of being “Lumad,” too, as they were now given platforms where they could speak up and share their music and dances, among others.

Going “Lumad” became the “in” thing. Nieva’s Crafts, a Davao City-based business enterprise, launched its “Lumad” brand in 1981 featuring ethnic designs.


CD cover for Joey Ayala and Bagong Lumad’s “Mga Awit ng Tanod Lupa.”

Singer-composer-poet Joey Ayala, now a nominee for National Artist, told MindaNews he coined the term “Bagong Lumad” (literally ‘new native’) around 1980-1981” while still based in Davao City and used it “in the mid-1980s for a show at UP with Patatag.” He said the band “Bagong Lumad” was formed around 1985 to 1986.

Ayala also founded Bagong Lumad Artists Foundation, Inc. in 1988 to, among others, “reawaken indigenous consciousness.”

The Lumads were also featured in Noe’s Ark shirts designed by the late graphic artist Noe Tio, who was drummer of Bagong Lumad.

LUMAD-Mindanao

Mansayagan recalls that in 1983, a multisectoral organization named LUMAD-Mindanao was established with lawyer Fausto Lingating, a Subanen from Lapuyan, Zamboanga del Sur, as founding chair. LUMAD meant Lumadnong Alyansa alang sa Demokrasya.

On April 2, 1985, human rights lawyer Romfraflo Taojo, then chair of LUMAD-Mindanao, was gunned down in his apartment in what is now Tagum City in Davao del Norte.

Mansayagan said an assembly was held in August 1985 supposedly to choose Taojo’s successor but choosing a successor proved to be difficult as many feared they would end up like Taojo. In May 1985, a month after Taojo’s murder, three human rights lawyers in Davao City – Laurente Ilagan, Antonio Arellano and Marcos Risonar — were arrested on the strength of a Preventive Detention Action.

But it was in this August 1985 conference, Mansayagan said, where the IP leaders asserted they wanted a “pure Lumad” organization.

The non-Lumad in the assembly, he said, formed the support group, KADUMA-Lumad or Kahugpugan sa mga Dumadapig ug Nakig-unong sa Lumad while an Ad Hoc Committee composed of Lumad leaders from different parts of Mindanao was formed for the “pure Lumad” organization.

By first week of November 1985, President Ferdinand Marcos, who had by then overstayed his term of office by 12 years (he declared martial law on September 21, 1972; his second and last term as President was supposed to have ended on December 30, 1973), announced in an interview with America’s David Brinkley that he was calling for snap elections on February 7, 1986.

1986 Assembly

The dictator Marcos was ousted and Corazon Aquino, widow of the assassinated former Senator Benigno Aquino, was sworn in as President on February 25, 1986.

In June 1986, Mansayagan, then 26, said, the founding assembly of the “pure Lumad” organization – Lumad Mindanaw – was held in Kidapawan City.

There, he said, IP leaders discussed the many issues they were facing and towards the end of the assembly, discussed the appropriate word that would collectively refer to the different ethnic groups in Mindanao who are not Moro.

The consensus of the IP leaders, he said, was “Katawhang Lumad” which is ‘Bisaya’ for Indigenous Peoples. The founding chair, he said, was Datu Balitungtong Antonio Lumandong, a Higaonon from Misamis Oriental. Omos, a Mangguangan from Davao del Norte, was its Secretary-General in the first two years.

Mansayagan said that in July 1987, Omos was the first Lumad who attended the sessions of the United Nations Working Group on Indigenous Peoples and that is how “Lumad Peoples” was first recorded in the United Nations as, according to Mansayagan, “the identity of Mindanao un-Islamized indigenous population.”

Rodil was present at the assembly at the Guadalupe Formation Center on June 26, 1986 as a resource person on Mindanao history. He was then a Professor at the Mindanao State University – Iligan Institute of Technology in Iligan City and he recalls listening to the exchanges of the IP leaders on the collective name and the word “Lumad” won.

The historian remembers it was Fr. Rodulfo ‘Dong’ Galenzoga, who facilitated the discussion. MindaNews e-mailed the priest early Sunday morning to ask him about what he remembers of that meeting. He succumbed to pneumonia noon that day in a hospital in Iligan City.

Mansayagan recalls it was a long discussion initially facilitated by Nestor Masinaring and later by Galenzoga.

Rodil said that during this meeting, “wala ko nakadungog ug NPA or LMPF. Isip historian mao ang akong gigamit sa akong libro ug sa tanan nakong public lectures. Historic kato, first time nga nakasabot sa collective name sa mga Lumad. Simple ang meaning, indigenous, native, nitibo, taga Mindanaw ug lahi sa mga Moro or Bangsamoro” (I heard nothing of the NPA or the LMPF. As a historian, I used the word ‘Lumad’ in my books and all my public lectures. It was historic, first time the IPs agreed on a collective name with a simple meaning, indigenous, native, from Mindanao and distinct from the Moro).

Here was a collective name that the Lumads themselves did not find pejorative unlike the collective names given them by the Spaniards, Americans and even by the national government.

Rodil said the Lumads were described by the Spaniards as “paganos,” by the Americans as “Wild Tribes” or “Uncivilized Tribes” or “Non-Christian Tribes;” by the national government as “National Cultural Minorities,” “Cultural Minorities,” or “Minorities.” In the 1973 Constitution, the IPs nationwide were referred to as Cultural Communities and in the 1987 Constitution as “Indigenous Cultural Communities.”

Common term

Italian-American missionary Peter Geremia, PIME, who headed the IP Apostolate in the Diocese of Kidapawan for decades, recalls that in the early 1980’s when they had consultations with the IPs in the Diocese of Kidapawan “we asked them if they have a common term for all tribes in Mindanao. They replied that they used the term of each tribe like Manobo, B’laan, etc.”

He said a common term was proposed: “Talaingod and therefore, the first organization including different tribes was called NAKATA or Nagkahiusang Katawhang Talaingod.”

But Geremia noted that the term “Talaingod” was not widely used.

“The Bisaya used the term ‘Lumad’ for all tribes in Mindanao” but when the Diocese organized the Tribal Filipino Program, they preferred the term ‘Tribal Filipino,’ he said.

“Some Tribal Leaders did not like the term ‘Lumad’ but it was widely used also by many Tribals,” Geremia told MindaNews on Tuesday.

He remembers the assembly in Kidapawan in 1986 when Lumad Mindanaw was born “but I do not remember if there were objections to the term ‘Lumad.’ I never heard that the term ‘Lumad’ was initiated or sponsored by the CPP-NPA-NDF, I only heard that it was the common term used by the Bisaya.”

Geremia recalled that some Lumad Mindanaw leaders were later “tagged leftist or sympathizers of the NPA.”

Mansayagan said “Lumad Mindanaw” died on the day Lumad Mindanaw Peoples Federation was born in September 1994, during the general assembly of Lumad Mindanaw in Alabel, Sarangani where they also renounced alliance with the left.

“The end of Lumad Mindanaw was the beginning of LMPF,” he said, adding that they restructured the organization into a “genuine indigenous peoples organization with vision of asserting the inherent, alienable and collective rights to identity and / territory, self-determination and self-governance.”

He said they have identified about 30 groups of “Katawhang Lumad” (Indigenous Peoples) in Mindanao who are asserting their rights to identity, ancestral domains and self-determination.

“Ridiculous”

Anthropologist Gus Gatmaytan, Director of the Ateneo de Davao University’s Institute of Anthropology described the NCIP resolution as “ridiculous.”

Gatmaytan said “Lumad” was adopted in the 1980s by Lumad leaders from different parts of Mindanao “who realized that they had shared or common experiences of insecurity, dispossession and violence during the years of Marcos’ Martial Law regime, and that they now needed a collective name that would refer to them as a group, and distinguish them from the Moro and settler populations of Mindanao.”

Gatmaytan stressed that the use of ‘Lumad’ as a collective term for IPs of Mindanao does not contradict the fact that they have their own ethnic names for themselves. “Identity is a complex and relational concept and process that allows a person to be an individual, an Arumanen Manobo, a Lumad, and a Filipino, depending on the context and their will,” he said.

Right to self-ascription, self-determination

Gatmaytan said it can be argued that “the gradual adoption of the name Lumad is an agentive act on the part of the various groups in Mindanao, reflecting a realization that as a group they had similar histories, problems and aspirations, which together serve as the basis for a shared sense of identity; an identity which they chose to refer to as Lumad.”

Their continuing use of the name Lumad, he added, is “an exercise of their right to self-ascription, which is itself rooted in their fundamental right to self-determination.”


Talaandig elders prepare chickens for sacrifice during the ritual to commemorate the 10th year of the Moro-IP Friendship in Songco, Lantapan town, Bukidnon on Monday, 8 March 2021. MindaNews photo by FROILAN GALLARDO

“To say that the indigenous people of Mindanao were somehow manipulated into using the term Lumad, as the NCIP seems to be saying, is to assert that they are merely gullible minions of outsiders, incapable of understanding who they are, what they need and want, and planning their future,” he said.

Gatmaytan explained that if the IPs, groups, communities or individuals choose to refer to themselves as Lumad, “then that is their inherent and inalienable right.”

“No one — not the NCIP nor the Philippine state — can gainsay their decision to do so; nor can anyone ‘ban’ their use of any name they choose to use. The NCIP should need no reminder to honor and respect the indigenous peoples’ exercise of their right to their identities, and to denote their identities in any manner or with whatever name they want. It should refrain from any further attempt to politicize and control indigenous identity, and instead focus on the many, more urgent concerns and issues that the indigenous peoples face,” he said.

Focus on “bigger issue”

Gaspar said the use of “Lumad” to refer to IPs “did not arise out of an ideological movement for an ideological reason. And as befits the origin of words that become part of a lexicon of a social movement, one cannot trace anymore where it first arose and who made the first move to start using the word. Somehow in the course of time, the word got appropriated and eventually took on a meaning for those using the term within the world of meaning for which it arose. And now an agency of a dictatorial State apparatus would claim the right to determine its origin? What an idiotic thing to do!!!”

Marites “Matet” Gonzalo, a Tagakolu anthropologist from Davao Occidental who serves as Coordinator of the two community-based IP schools of the Malita Tagakaulo Mission — the Holy Cross of Malita’s Kyasan and Lebleb branches — told MindaNews on Thursday that they have no issue with the word “Lumad” because they use the term “referring to ourselves” when they talk to those outside their communities.


A Lumad evacuee from Barangay Diatagon in Lianga, Surigao del Sur and her baby at the provincial sports complex in Tandag City on Oct. 1, 2015. MindaNews file photo by H. MARCOS C. MORDENO

Gonzalo said the Church has an “Adlaw sa Lumad” or IP Sunday or what was earlier known as Tribal Filipino Sunday. She said they also have a Lumadnong Katesismo or Indigenous Catechesis and even have a song about their being Lumad like “Kitadun tengteng Lumad” or “We are Lumads.”

The word ‘Lumad,’ Gonzalo said, is not the issue. The bigger issue that needs to be addressed, she said, is the situation of the Lumads who are “pirming maipit ug magamit sa left and right nga grupo” (who are always the ones victimized and abused by groups from the left and right). (Carolyn O. Arguillas / MindaNews)

https://www.mindanews.com/top-stories/2021/03/the-ip-struggle-continues-as-ncip-red-tags-and-bans-use-of-lumad-the-collective-word-for-mindanao-ips-since-the-late-1970s/

3 Indonesians allegedly seized by Abu Sayyaf rescued in Tawi-Tawi

From MindaNews (Mar 19, 2021): 3 Indonesians allegedly seized by Abu Sayyaf rescued in Tawi-Tawi (By FRENCIE CARREON)



The Mindanao provinces nearest Sabah are Tawi-tawi and Sulu. Courtesy of Google Maps

Three Indonesian nationals who claimed they were kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf last January in Sabah were rescued in a coastal village in Tawi-Tawi Thursday.

The police of Tandubas municipality said they found the kidnap victims, along with one of their captors, in Pasigan Laut, South Ubian town.

Police identified the victims as Arizal Kasta Miran, 30, Arsad Bin Dahlan, 41, and Andi Riswanto, 26, all residents of Kabupaten Wakatobi municipality, Sulawesi Tengara, Indonesia.


Capt. Al Kenneth Cayanga, Tandubas police chief said they received on Thursday afternoon a text message about the presence of survivors of a sea mishap in Pasigan Laut, and went to the area to verify it.

The three men told police they were abducted by seven alleged Abu Sayyaf members on January 15 in Tambisan, Sandakan in Sabah while fishing.

They said there were originally eight of them who were kidnapped but that the kidnappers freed three of the victims for unknown reasons, and another one died during a firefight between the Abu Sayyaf and government troops in Sulu.

The Indonesians added the other kidnap victim got separated from them when their banca capsized.

One of the alleged abductors who was with the Indonesians was identified as Suhud Salasim aka Ben Wagas, 45, a resident of Maimbung, Sulu.

Salasim said there were four other Abu Sayyaf members who were with them but they got separated when their boat sank.
(Frencie L. Carreon/MindaNews)

https://www.mindanews.com/top-stories/2021/03/3-indonesians-allegedly-seized-by-abu-sayyaf-rescued-in-tawi-tawi/

3 Indon hostages rescued, Sayyaf man captured in Tawi-Tawi

Posted to the Mindanao Examiner (Mar 19, 2021): 3 Indon hostages rescued, Sayyaf man captured in Tawi-Tawi

Philippine authorities on Friday said three Indonesian fishermen kidnapped last year by the Abu Sayyaf were rescued, and one of their Filipino captors was captured after their boat capsized off Tawi-Tawi province while fleeing from a military operation in nearby Sulu province.


Police photo of the rescued Indonesian fishermen. (The Star)

Lt. Gen. Corleto Vinluan, chief of the Western Mindanao Command, said security forces are also holding another Filipino after he was rescued by a passing ship off Pasigan Island near South Ubian.

He identified the Indonesian hostages as Riswanto Bin Hayono, Arical Kastamiran, and Arsyad Bin Dahalan, and
the Abu Sayyaf captor as Sahud Salisim alias Ben Wagas. The other Filipino has been identified also as Bensal Jakare, but it was unknown whether he is also an Abu Sayyaf fighter.

The Indonesians said they were escorted by 5 Abu Sayyaf terrorists and heading to Tawi-Tawi when their boat was battered by huge waves and capsized late Friday. They did not say whether Jakare was among their Abu Sayyaf guards.


Policemen in South Ubian spotted the four men at a coastal area and quickly informed the military about it. It was during questioning when security forces discovered that 3 of the men are Indonesian fishermen kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf in January last year.

Security forces were sent to the area to search for the other Abu Sayyaf captors.

The rescued Indonesians were among 5 fishermen kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf off Tambisan waters in Lahad Datu town in Sabah near the Philippine border.

Eight gunmen hijacked their trawler and kidnapped five of the eight crew members, one of the hostages was identified by the Indonesian news agency Antara as Arsyad Abdullah, the boat’s skipper. It was unclear if Abdullah was the same man Vinluan identified as Arsyad Bin Dahalan.

Vinluan said one of the Indonesian hostages whom he did not name was killed by the Abu Sayyaf in September last year while trying to escape. The fifth hostage managed to escape.

“The kidnapped victims are among five Indonesian nationals working for a Malaysian fishing firm abducted by the Abu Sayyaf group in the waters off Tambisan, Malaysia on January 17, 2020. One of them was killed by their abductors while trying to escape during an encounter in Patikul (town) in Sulu on September 29, 2020,” he said.

Brig. Gen. Arturo Rojas, commander of the Joint Task Force Tawi-Tawi, said the Abu Sayyaf terrorists are now on the run due to ongoing military operations against them in Sulu. “They are evading the ongoing intensive military operations in Sulu so they sailed to Tawi-Tawi bringing along the captives with them onboard a jungkong (wooden speedboat). While sailing, the watercraft was hit by big waves and capsized,” he said.

“Another passenger of the jungkong was rescued by a (passenger) vessel along Silandat Island, South Ubian and this was identified as Bensal Jakare, of Indanan (town) in Sulu,” he said.

The Indonesian government has been notified by the rescue of the hostages who are now under the custody of the Marine Battalion Landing Team 6 in Tawi-Tawi province.

Maj. Gen. William Gonzales, commander of the 11th Infantry Division in Sulu province, said the operations against the pro-ISIS group are going on. “We continuously bolstered our offensives to pressure the Abu Sayyaf to release the hostages which forced them to look for a safer refuge,” he said. (Mindanao Examiner)

http://mindanaoexaminernewspaper.blogspot.com/2021/03/3-indon-hostages-rescued-sayyaf-man.html

Camp Jabal Nur continues to join PH gov’t for peace

From the Philippine Information Agency (Mar 20, 2021): Camp Jabal Nur continues to join PH gov’t for peace (By Claire R. Gigje)

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MADAMBA, Lanao del Sur, Mar. 19 (PIA)--The Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) National Unified Command based at Camp Jabal Nur in Lanao del Sur echoed its stand of giving steadfast support to the Philippine government in bringing peace to the country.

“We are ready for peace… We are committed kasi nandiyan na ang agreement. Hindi kami lalagpas diyan. Anuman ang nasa agreement, doon kami,” said Alex Lagawa, the Chief of Staff of Zone of Peace III and the Commanding General of the National Unified Command. [We are committed because the agreement is already there. We will not go beyond that. Whatever is in the agreement, we will go there.]


Abulkhair Amerol, the Head of the Coordinating Team of Zone of Peace III, also conveyed how massive their commitment is in backing the national government in its effort of advocating peace while calling for unity from both parties.

“Sana magkatulungan tayo. Committed na kami sa peace in all areas sa Mindanao at Philippines, lalong lalo na sa area namin sa Zone III,” he pronounced. [I hope we help each other. We are already committed to peace in all areas in Mindanao and the Philippines, especially in our area here at Zone III.]


Alex Lagawa, the Chief of Staff of Zone of Peace III and the Commanding General of the National Unified Command, reiterates that Camp Jabal Nur stays committed to their peace agreement with the national government with their advocacy of sustaining peace in the country.

Lagawa stressed that they definitely feel the support of the government this time which always makes them choose peace even more than war.

“Okay po [ang relasyon namin sa gobyerno]. Feel na feel namin [ang support ng gobyerno]. Noon, ang problema namin ay promise nang promise pero walang gawa. Sinabi ko sa kanila, it is better for war than for peace,” he stated. [It is okay [our relationship with the government.] We really feel it [the support of the government]. A long time ago, our problem was that they just promised and promised but no action. I told them it is better for war than for peace.]

“Sa totoo lang, nafeel namin noon parang nadismaya kami kaya sabi ko sa kanila we want war kahit we want peace. Napakahirap itong sa amin na no war, no peace. Sa inyo, todo-todo ang nakuha naming suporta,” Lagawa added. [The truth is we felt in the past that we were dismayed so I told them we want war although we want peace. This is difficult for us- no war, no peace. With you, we get great support.]

Meanwhile, the camp extended their gratitude to the government agencies for reaching out to them during the distribution of sacks of rice to their community by the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Tuesday, March 16.

“Libo-libong pasasalamat sa inyong lahat na pumunta dito, OPAPP, military man o pulis. Hindi natin matutumbasan ng anuman. Mas importante iyong nandito kayo, nakita ng mga tao na nagkakaisa tayo. Ang programa ng gobyerno, katulad ng OPAPP, lahat ng agencies ng gobyerno, iyan din ang sa amin kaya kami po ay nagpapasalamat sa inyo. Maraming maraming salamat sa inyong lahat,” Lagawa expressed. [A thousand thanks to all of you who went here, OPAPP, military or police. We cannot reciprocate that with anything. It is more important that you are here, the people saw that we are united. The program of the government, like OPAPP, all government agencies, that is also ours that is why we are thanking you. Thank you very much to all of you.]

Currently, Camp Jabal Nur holds about 4,000 active MNLF members who continuously stand hand-in-hand with the national government for peace. (CRG/ PIA-ICIC)

https://pia.gov.ph/news/articles/1070035

Hiligaynon News: 79IB sang Army naghiwat pulong-pulong sa mga IPs

From the Philippine Information Agency (Mar 20, 2021): Hiligaynon News: 79IB sang Army naghiwat pulong-pulong sa mga IPs (By Lorenzo O. Lambatin, Jr.)

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NEGROS OCCIDENTAL, Marso 20 (PIA)— Ang 79th Infantry "Masaligan" Battalion sang Philippine Army sining karon lang naghiwat sang isa ka Pulong-Pulong kag outreach program sa mga Indigenous Peoples (IPs) community sang Sitio Las Piñas, Brgy Minapasuk, banwa sang Calatrava.

Suno kay Civil-Military Operations Officer 1Lt. Dansan Camua, ang hilikuton natigayaon sa pagbuligay sang local nga pamahalaan sang Calatrava, konseho sang Brgy. Minapasuk, 6th Special Action Battalion, Philippine National Police-Special Action Force (PNP-SAF) kag Lady Riders Club-Negros Occidental.


May 85 ka mga residente, kalakip sang mga bata kag mga ginikanan nga lunsay mga katapo sang Negritos Ata kag tribu Bukidnon, ang nagpasakop kag nagbaton sang mga pagkaon, hygiene kits, face shield, face mask kag mga tsinelas.

Sa ginhiwat nga Pulong-Pulong, ang anay rebelde nga si alyas "Ka Joross" naghatag sang iya panugdaon bahin sa malimbungon nga pag haylo sa iya sang mga katapo sang mga Communist Terrorist Group (CTG) kag kon paano siya gin buligan sang gobyerno sa iya pag sungka, suno kay Camua.

Si Executive Assistant Marianne Lumanog sang lokal nga pamahalan sang Calatrava nagpasalig sa mga IPs nga buligan sila sang gobyerno labi na ang bahin sa ila ikaayong lawas.

Nagpasalamat si Pedro Satuquia, pinuno sang Negrito Ata kag tribu Bukidnon, sa programa sang 79IB kag nagpangabay nga magpadayon ang amo nga hilikuton agud makahibalo sila pa gid sila sang mga giho kag lihok sang mga CTG.

Nagpasalamat man si Lieutenant Colonel Gerard T. Alvaran nga amo ang Commanding Officer sang 79IB sa pamunuan sang Calatrava, PNP-SAF kag Lady Riders Club sa paghiwat sang amo nga programa.

"Ang mga IPs sarang nga ma manipular sang mga katapo sang teroristang CPP-NPA. Sa amo nga rason, gin hiwat namon ang ini nga programa agud mapa hibalo sa ila nga ang gobyerno may kabalaka sa ila. Upod sang pribado nga mga organisasyon naga tulok ini sang ila kaayuhan. Luyag namon mag hatag sang pag-laum sa mga IP kag ipabalo sa ila nga tanan himuon sang mga soldado agud ipatigayon ang kalinong kag kauswagan sa ila nga komunidad," pahayag ni Alvaran. (79th IB PA/JSC/LOL/PIA6 Negros Occidental)

https://pia.gov.ph/news/articles/1070095

NPA couple killed in Kalinga encounter

From the Philippine Information Agency (Mar 18, 2021): NPA couple killed in Kalinga encounter (By Peter A. Balocnit)

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BALBALAN, Kalinga, March 18 (PIA) - - A New People’s Army (NPA) couple was found dead in an encounter with the military on March 15 at Sitio Babacong, Gawaan, this municipality.

Authorities identified the NPA cadres as Rudy Daguitan alyas “Pinpin” who died on the encounter site and his party wife, Nora Miguel alyas “Gemay”, whose body was seen in an abandoned hut at Sitio Fukong, Brgy. Gawa-an.

Daguitan was the Political Officer/Political Instructor of Komiteng Larangan Baggas of Ilocos Cordillera Regional Committee (KLG-ICRC) and had P2.3 million bounty for his capture while Ka “Gemay” was the Medical Officer of KLG Baggas. The couple had three children

Daguitan, 58, reportedly joined the NPA movement after graduating Commerce in Bontoc, Mountain Province.

Elements of the 50th Infantry Battalion were patrolling the mountain lair of the communist terrorist group at Sitio Babacong, barangay Gawaan when they were fired upon by about 20 NPAs headed by one alyas Mio of Platoon Guevara, KLG-ICRC, resulting to a firefight, the 5th Infantry Division reported.

When the firefight subsided, the military entered the NPA camp and found the body of a rebel identified as Ka Pinpin who was abandoned by his companions. A long firearm was also recovered at the abandoned camp.

In the subsequent clearing operations, the soldiers found Ka Gemay’s body in an abandoned hut at Sitio Fukong, also in Brgy Gawa-an. With the help of some civilians, 50th IB troopers brought down the body of Alyas Gemay.


The remains of the couple were later brought to the house of one of Rudy’s relatives in Bulanao, Tabuk City for their wake and burial.

503rd IB Commnader, Col. Santiago Enginco lauded his troops for the successful mission. “Malaking kawalan sa KLG Baggas ang pagkamatay ni alyas Pinpin. Mapipilay ang pag-iindoktrina at pagtuturo ng ideolohiyang komunismo sa kanilang mga kasapi at sa mga sumusuportang masa,” he said.

On the other hand, MGen. Laurence Mina. Commander of the 5 ID, said what happened to Ka Pinpin should serve as a lesson to the remnants of the CPP-NPA.

“Magsilbi sanang aral ang sinapit ni Rudy Daguitan alyas Pinpin sa mga nalalabi pang kasapi ng teroristang CPP-NPA. Ito ay isa na namang patunay na hindi pinapahalagahan ang mga miyenbro ng rebeldeng grupo,” he said.

Mina called on the remaining NPA rebels to surrender and join the main stream society before it’s too late. (JDP/PAB-PIA CAR, Kalinga)

https://pia.gov.ph/news/articles/1069758

NCRPO chief tells youth in ELCAC bootcamp: Hindi kami papayag na ang unipormadong pulis ay patuloy na magiging abusado

From the Philippine Information Agency (Mar 20, 2021): NCRPO chief tells youth in ELCAC bootcamp: Hindi kami papayag na ang unipormadong pulis ay patuloy na magiging abusado (By Jimmyley E. Guzman)

PASIG CITY, March 19 (PIA) -- The chief of the Metro Manila police has assured youth participants of a two-day youth leadership boot camp, in support to the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF ELCAC), that his leadership never tolerated abusive police personnel.

"Totoo yan, hindi po kami magdedeny na may mga abusadong sundalo. Totoo yan. Totoo yan na may abusadong pulis. Pero ako na po nagsasabi sa inyo. Ako na mismo. Hindi kami papayag na ang unipormadong pulis, unipormadong sundalo ay patuloy na magiging abusado” National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) Chief Major General Vicente Danao told the trainees.

Danao said communist front organizations have been maliciously capitalizing on human rights issues by painting dire pictures and employing dual tactics to deceive and advance their interest of overthrowing the government.

“Kung makikita ninyo grabe ang ginawa ng makakaliwang grupo. Sa totoo lang. Hindi ko sinisilaw yung utak ninyo. Marami itong ginawa na hindi lang namalayan ng ating history o ng ating panahon. Wag kayong maniwala sa mga sinasabi nila," he said.

The youth leadership boot camp with the theme “D2 KaMI: Droga’y Durugin, Komunismo at Masamang gawain ay Iwaksi” was held at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City.

The activity was participated in by SK Chairperson/SK Federation and Councilors from different barangays under the jurisdiction of the five police districts which is aimed at preparing both the youth and student sectors on practical reality of leadership development and to protect them from being brainwashed by the CNN/CTGs into abandoning their families and studies and prepare to become active PNP partners and advocates of peace and development.

Danao said he was overwhelmed after feeling the warm presence and support of youth leaders on how they can help lot in the campaign against illegal drugs and terrorism in the country.

NCRPO photos

The highlights of the youth camp include lectures and practical exercises; leadership and team building activities with crafting of manifesto of support to ELCAC; poster making contest; sharing of experiences with the cadres and oath taking that was administered by the NCRPO chief.

According to NCRPO, the youth participants pledged to cascade the “Kabataan Kontra Droga at Terorismo Program’ and to take the right action to fight against any illegal drugs and terrorism – or any related activities.

Further, as an individual and primary member of the youth community, they pledged to do their duties and responsibilities to simulate motivation to the fellow youth through active participation in community and school.

They are also expected to uphold the objectives set by this program and inherit others to do the same, and to be a good steward in the implementation of the program in empowering the youth to create and develop an organized and safer country to live in. (PIA-NCR)

https://pia.gov.ph/news/articles/1069998

Spanish Royal Navy ship makes ‘goodwill’ port call in PH

From the Philippine Information Agency (Mar 20, 2021): Spanish Royal Navy ship makes ‘goodwill’ port call in PH (By Alehia Therese V. Abuan)


The training ship of the Spanish Royal Navy, the Juan Sebastian Elcano, today passes by a bridge structure in Cebu City (approximately 828.2km southeast of Manila) before docking at Pier 6 of the Cebu International Port for a goodwill port call. (Photo courtesy of CCLEX)

PARAÑAQUE CITY, March 20 (PIA) -- The training ship of the Spanish Royal Navy, the Juan Sebastian Elcano, today made a "goodwill" port call in Cebu City, some 828.2 kilometers southeast of Manila, to commemorate the arrival of the Magellan-Elcano expedition in the Philippines 500 years ago.

The ship’s goodwill port call to Cebu City is part of the Quincentennial Commemoration of the world's first circumnavigation.

“We are now on the fifth day of the 2021 Quincentennial Commemorations in the Philippines," said Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Undersecretary Jonji Gonzales of during the arrival ceremony at the Cebu International Port Pier 6.

"We started it in Guiuan, Eastern Samar on March 16. It will last until October 28, which is the 500th anniversary of the exit of the Magellan-Elcano expedition from the Philippine waters via Sarangani Island, Davao Occidental,” added Gonzales, a member of the National Quincentennial Committee (NQC).

“But a lot of people are still confused why are we commemorating the coming of the Spaniards to the Philippines? Is the Magellan-Elcano expedition our history?” Gonzales furthered.

However, he said as early as June 2018, the NQC had already settled this issue.

“The committee assures the Filipino people that we will not celebrate the discovery of the Philippines. We will commemorate the quincentennial the Filipino way, which means we will raise the awareness of our countrymen about the rich yet challenging pre-Hispanic or pre-colonial history,” he said.

Gonzales said it is also very significant to point out that for thousands of years before 1521, Filipino ancestors were already existing and thriving in these islands of Southeast Asia.

“It is challenging because of the scant sources but the NQC keeps on tracking whatever is left about our pre-colonial ancestors from various libraries and archives around the world,” he added.

In a report by the Philippine News Agency, Amaya Fuentes Milani, deputy head of mission at the Embassy of Spain in Manila, underscored Cebu’s significance in the commemoration of the world’s circumnavigation, during the naval ceremony.

“There are factors that make this moment very significant. One is what Cebu represents. When the expedition first arrived here in 1521, it was just a small settlement, but now Cebu is the second-largest city in the Philippines, home to more than one million people, and is a symbol of how the Philippines has been developing and growing along the last decades,” Milani said.

The Spanish diplomat also noted that Cebu is “also one of the center stages of modern cooperation” between Spain and the Philippines.

She cited the strong cooperation and prosperity between the two countries in the modern-day.

Meanwhile, top Cebu officials welcomed the arrival of the Spanish Navy training ship.

The ship came to the country, first arriving in Samar then sailing to Cebu, as part of the commemoration of the arrival of Armada de Maluco, also known as the Magellan-Elcano expedition that completed the first circumnavigation of the world in March 1521.

The Spanish training ship departed Spain in October 2020 to retrace the original route of the expedition led by Ferdinand Magellan and Juan Sebastian Elcano. The ship arrived in the waters of Suluan Island in Guiuan, Eastern Samar on March 16, 2021.

The NQC chose the 500th anniversary of the first circumnavigation of the world as the branding of the commemorations instead of the Eurocentric discovery of the Philippines.

“While we commemorate our own milestones associated with the first circumnavigation such as the Humanity at Homonhon, which we commemorated in Guiuan the past days, the Easter Sunday Mass in Limasawa on March 31, the baptism in Cebu or the 500 Years of Christianity in Cebu on April 14, and the Victory at Mactan on April 27, we are also one with the rest of humankind in acknowledging the achievement of science and humanity of encircling the planet for the first time,” Gonzales said. (PIA NCR)

https://pia.gov.ph/news/articles/1070115

Army thwarts anew BIFF plot to sow terror in Maguindanao

From the Philippine News Agency (Mar 19, 2021): Army thwarts anew BIFF plot to sow terror in Maguindanao (By Edwin Fernandez)



CLASH. A house burns in Barangay Kitango, Datu Saudi Ampatuan, Maguindanao following an encounter between government forces and BIFF terrorists on Thursday (March 18, 2021). Military armored personnel carriers (inset) maneuver on the middle of the highway in Kitango during the height of the 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. clash in the area to shield fleeing villagers. (Photos courtesy of RMN – Cotabato and DXMS Radio Cotabato)

CAMP SIONGCO, Maguindanao – Government forces thwarted another attempt by the extremist Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) to sow terror in Datu Saudi Ampatuan, Maguindanao, the military here reported Friday.

Lt. Col. John Paul Baldomar, speaking for the Army’s 6th Infantry Division (6ID), said the
reporting of residents to military forces in Datu Saudi Ampatuan prevented what could be a bloody attack by BIFF fighters against Joint Peace and Security Team outpost in Barangay Kitango.

A composite team from the Philippine Army, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, and local police is manning the outpost and functions as peacekeeping forces in ensuring the security of residents within the six government-acknowledged MILF camps in Central Mindanao.

Baldomar said BIFF gunmen have been sighted in Kitango and repeatedly threatened to harm civilians if they refused to provide revolutionary tax to the terror group.


He said troopers from the 1st Mechanized Infantry Brigade (1MIBde) encountered about 30 BIFF fighters in Barangay Kitango from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Col. Pedro Balisi, commander of 1MIBde, said upon receipt of verified reports from the residents, government forces immediately conducted clearing operations and encountered the BIFF fighters, triggering a running gun battle.

“Thanks to the help and cooperation of the residents by reporting the presence of armed men in their communities thus allowing our forces to preempt possible atrocities by the BIFF,” Balisi told reporters.
Balisi added that no casualty was reported on the government side but could also not determine if the BIFF sustained casualties.

Maj. Gen. Juvymax Uy, commander of 6ID and concurrent chief of the Joint Task Force Central, assured residents of Maguindanao that they would continue to protect communities in the province against terror groups.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1134141

7 BIFF yield to Army in North Cotabato

From the Philippine News Agency (Mar 19, 2021): 7 BIFF yield to Army in North Cotabato (By Edwin Fernandez)  March 19, 2021, 8:51 am



SURRENDER. Military and town officials of Pikit, North Cotabato presented to the media the seven BIFF members who surrendered on Thursday (March 18, 2021). Brig. Gen. Roberto Capulong (inset), commander of the 602nd Infantry Brigade, also inspected the firearms yielded by the surrendering BIFF batch. (Photos courtesy of 602Bde)

Seven combatants of the local terrorist group Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) decided to surrender to the military in North Cotabato to live normal lives once more, officials said Thursday.

With the help of acting Mayor Muhyryn Sultan Casi of Pikit, North Cotabato the BIFF surrenderers laid down their arms and yielded on Thursday afternoon to the Army’s 602nd Infantry Brigade (602Bde) in Pikit, North Cotabato.

The BIFF batch turned in their rifles during surrender rites
to Brigadier General Roberto Capulong, commander of 602Bde, and Lt. Col. Rommel Mundala, commanding officer of the 90th Infantry Battalion as witnessed by local officials.

The mayor has offered to provide initial cash assistance and livelihood packages to the former rebels so they can start a peaceful and normal life.

They surrendered three M14 rifles, one homemade KG-9 automatic pistol; one rocket-propelled grenade launcher; a 12-gauge shotgun; an M79 grenade launcher; an improvised explosive device with blasting cap; and assorted ammunition.


Capulong the surrenderers were involved in atrocities in Pikit, and against military forces in the so-called SPMS box composed of the adjoining towns of Shariff Aguak, Datu Saudi Ampatuan (Pagatin), Mamasapano, and Datu Salibo.

“They all belonged to the BIFF Kagui Karialan faction and linked to highway robberies, hold-up, liquidation operations, and extortion activities in North Cotabato and Maguindanao,” Capulong said.

In a statement, Maj. Gen. Juvymax Uy, 6th Infantry Division commander, has expressed hope other BIFF members will follow suit to also be reunited with the families. Since January this year, about 36 BIFF have surrendered to the 6ID, he said.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1134143

2 more NPA rebels yield in Sarangani

From the Philippine News Agency (Mar 19, 2021): 2 more NPA rebels yield in Sarangani (By Richelyn Gubalani)



Photo courtesy of 38th Infantry Battalion

Disheartened with their “miserable” condition in the mountains, two more members of the New People’s Army (NPA) operating in the hinterlands of Sarangani have surrendered on Thursday to government troops in the area.

Lt. Col. Anhouvic Atilano, commanding officer of Army’s 38th Infantry Battalion (IB), said Friday
the rebels yielded along with a firearm in Barangay Nomoh, Maasim town following a series of negotiations facilitated by local government and community leaders.

He said the two formally signified to surrender last March 15 and were immediately processed by their community support team in coordination with the Municipal Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict of Maasim.

The returnees, who were under an NPA unit based in the mountainous areas of Maasim and its border with South Cotabato province, turned over a shotgun with three live ammunition, he said.

The area is operated by the NPA’s Guerilla Front 73 under its Far South Mindanao Revolutionary Committee.


Atilano said the two decided to abandon the armed struggle of the communist terrorist group and return to the folds of the law so they can lead normal lives with their families.

“They are also exhausted and demoralized by the continuing intensified military offensives against their units,” he said in a report.

The returnees were also discouraged by the uncertainty of their cause and the abuses committed by their leaders and other members, among them the extortion activities victimizing poor civilians.

Col. Eduardo Gubat, commanding officer of the Army’s 603rd Infantry Brigade, said the latest accomplishment is the result of the concerted efforts of their troops and the Maasim municipal government to convince more rebels to surrender.

He said these are complemented by the enhanced delivery of basic services to the people, especially those in the far-flung areas, by various government agencies.

These are in line with the government’s “whole-of-nation” approach to ending local communist insurgency under Executive Order No. 70.

Gubat added that they will endorse the surrenderers for inclusion into the Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program so they can avail of livelihood and support assistance from the local and national government.

The CPP-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1134149

Eastern Visayas on track to end insurgency

From the Philippine News Agency (Mar 19, 2021): Eastern Visayas on track to end insurgency (By Sarwell Meniano)



STOPPING THE REDS. Former rebels in Southern Leyte take oath as officers of a federation formed by the Philippine Army to help the government expose the deception of the communist terrorist group in this March 16, 2021 photo. Eastern Visayas is on track to wipe out insurgency by next year, given the gains of the regional task force to end local communist armed conflict since its creation two years ago. (Photo courtesy of Philippine Army)

Eastern Visayas (Region 8) is on track to wipe out insurgency by next year, given the gains of the Regional Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (RTF-ELCAC) since its creation two years ago, Housing Secretary and RTF 8-ELCAC chair Eduardo del Rosario, said Thursday.

In an RTF 8-ELCAC meeting attended by President Rodrigo Duterte, del Rosario reported
the New People’s Army (NPA) has weakened significantly in the past two years through the institutionalization of the whole-of-nation approach under Executive Order (EO) 70.

Citing reports from the Philippine Army’s 8th Infantry Division, he said the military
has neutralized 71 rebels, who were either captured or killed.

Some 2,428 others have surrendered and eight child warriors have been rescued.

Government troops have also recovered 103 high-powered and 123 low-powered firearms from the communist terrorist groups (CTGs) in the region as they dismantled seven out of 11 active communist front organizations.


“The remaining Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) capability in Region 8 is continuously declining, hence, we declare today that our timeline to neutralize and diminish the influence and fighting capability of the communist terrorists is achievable and doable within the President’s term," del Rosario said.

The persona non-grata declaration against the NPA by the local government has been a big factor in dismantling the NPA fronts, he added.

At least 3,395 or 77 percent of 4,390 villages in the region have declared CTG members as persona non-grata.

All mayors and governors of Leyte, Southern Leyte, Biliran, Samar, Eastern Samar, and Northern Samar have likewise formally rejected the NPA.

The formation of the RTF-ELCAC operationalizes EO 70 issued by Duterte on Dec. 4, 2018.

The directive also institutionalizes a “whole-of-nation approach” in attaining an inclusive and sustainable peace.

The CPP-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1134159

Spanish Navy ship makes ‘goodwill’ port call in Cebu

From the Philippine News Agency (Mar 20, 2021): Spanish Navy ship makes ‘goodwill’ port call in Cebu (By Carlo Lorenciana)



EXPEDITION. Juan Sebastian Elcano, the training ship of the Spanish Royal Navy, passes by the third bridge in Cebu City Saturday morning (March 20, 2021) before docking at the Cebu International Port. The ship arrived in the city to commemorate the arrival of the Magellan-Elcano expedition in the Philippines 500 years ago. (Photo courtesy of CCLEX)

The Philippines has marked another milestone in its 2021 Quincentennial Commemorations with the arrival of the Spanish Navy training ship Juan Sebastian Elcano in Cebu City on Saturday morning.

The ship’s goodwill port call to the Queen City of the South is in line with the Quincentennial Celebration of the world's first circumnavigation.

“We are now on the fifth day of the 2021 Quincentennial Commemorations in the Philippines. We started it in Guiuan, Eastern Samar on March 16. It will last until October 28, which is the 500th anniversary of the exit of the Magellan-Elcano expedition from the Philippine waters via Sarangani Island, Davao Occidental,”
Undersecretary Jonji Gonzales of the Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas said during the arrival ceremony at the Cebu International Port Pier 6 in this city.


“But a lot of people are still confused why are we commemorating the coming of the Spaniards to the Philippines? Is the Magellan-Elcano expedition our history?” said Gonzales, a regular member of the National Quincentennial Committee (NQC).

Gonzales explained the NQC had already settled this issue during its first meeting in June 2018.

“The committee assures the Filipino people that we will not celebrate the discovery of the Philippines. We will commemorate the quincentennial the Filipino way, which means we will raise the awareness of our countrymen about the rich yet challenging pre-Hispanic or pre-colonial history,” he said.

It is rich, Gonzales said, because for thousands of years before 1521, Filipino ancestors were already existing and thriving in these islands of Southeast Asia.

“It is challenging because of the scant sources but the NQC keeps on tracking whatever is left about our pre-colonial ancestors from various libraries and archives around the world,” he added.

Speaking during the ceremony, Amaya Fuentes Milani, deputy head of mission at the Embassy of Spain in Manila, underscored Cebu’s significance in the commemoration of the world’s circumnavigation.

“There are factors that make this moment very significant. One is what Cebu represents. When the expedition first arrived here in 1521, it was just a small settlement, but now Cebu is the second-largest city in the Philippines, home to more than one million people, and is a symbol of how the Philippines has been developing and growing along the last decades,” Milani said.

The Spanish diplomat also noted that Cebu is “also one of the center stages of modern cooperation” between Spain and the Philippines.

She cited the strong cooperation and prosperity between the two countries in the modern-day.

Meanwhile, top Cebu officials welcomed the arrival of the Spanish Navy training ship.

The ship came to the country, first arriving in Samar then sailing to Cebu, as part of the commemoration of the arrival of Armada de Maluco, also known as the Magellan-Elcano expedition that completed the first circumnavigation of the world in March 1521.

The Spanish training ship departed Spain in October 2020 to retrace the original route of the expedition led by Ferdinand Magellan and Juan Sebastian Elcano. The ship arrived in the waters of Suluan Island in Guiuan, Eastern Samar on March 16, 2021.

The NQC chose the 500th anniversary of the first circumnavigation of the world as the branding of the commemorations instead of the Eurocentric discovery of the Philippines.

“While we commemorate our own milestones associated with the first circumnavigation such as the Humanity at Homonhon, which we commemorated in Guiuan the past days, the Easter Sunday Mass in Limasawa on March 31, the baptism in Cebu or the 500 Years of Christianity in Cebu on April 14, and the Victory at Mactan on April 27, we are also one with the rest of humankind in acknowledging the achievement of science and humanity of encircling the planet for the first time,” Gonzales said.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1134285

Teenage NPA member yields in Iloilo

From the Philippine News Agency (Mar 20, 2021): Teenage NPA member yields in Iloilo (By Perla Lena) 



VICTIM OF NPA'S DECEPTION. A young member of the New People’s Army (NPA) (center) surrenders to Col. Joel Benedict G. Batara (right), commanding officer of the 61st Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army on Thursday (March 18, 2021). The minor identified as alias “Nene” (not her real name) claimed she was sexually abused by a high-ranking NPA member. (PNA photo courtesy of 61IB)

A 16-year-old member of the New People's Army (NPA) from Iloilo Province has surrendered to the 61st Infantry Battalion (61IB) of the Philippine Army (PA) and claimed that she was sexually abused by a ranking member of the terrorist group.

Col. Joel Benedict G. Batara, commanding officer of the 61IB, said that alias “Nene” (not her real name), who was in her six-month in the organization, escaped while the rebels were temporarily camped in a mountainous area in Miagao, Iloilo on March 18.


“She was one of those deceived and recruited. They promised to send her to school and to a certain point, it has motivated her because of poverty,” Batara said in an interview on Saturday.

He said the father already had an idea that her daughter was being recruited to the movement but he did not expect that it would be too soon.

Nene just came home one day, after going out for an errand, with a group of armed individuals who are members of the NPA.

Since then, Nene did not return home until March 18, when she got the chance to escape together with two other members.

She went directly to their house, accompanied by her father and their barangay captain, she proceeded to surrender.

Her address was withheld for safety reasons, however, Batara said their place in the province's First District is considered as a mass base of the communist terrorist group (CTG) or an “influenced-barangay”.

Nene, he said, is in a safe place together with her parents. She is also undergoing psycho-social debriefing.

Her case has been reported to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the Philippine National Police-Violence Against Women and Children's Desk.

According to Batara, Nene, while detailing her ordeal, said her comrade whom she identified as “Ka Victor” twice attempted to rape her.

He said that Nene was not the only one sexually abused. She revealed that nine of her female comrades, mostly minors, are pregnant.

“Their men comrades are taking advantage of their women. Most of those pregnant are minors who also came from influenced barangays,” Batara said.

He added that the pregnant NPA members also wanted to leave the movement but they could not escape due to fear.

The case of Nene proved the human rights violations committed by NPA leaders, especially males who took advantage of their female members.

“Our next action is to have her judicial affidavit to be able to file a case against those responsible and we will file a complaint before the Commission on Human Rights in Region 6,” he said.

Nene is the first minor to surrender this year but Batara said they expect more surrenderers from the Second District of the province as well.

He added parents are reminded to instill in their children awareness on deceptions of the NPA.

The Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army (CPP-NPA), which has been waging a five-decade armed struggle against the government, is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1134304

Gov’t troopers recover BIFF guns, IEDs in Maguindanao

From the Philippine News Agency (Mar 20, 2021): Gov’t troopers recover BIFF guns, IEDs in Maguindanao (By Noel Punzalan)



BIFF WAR MATERIEL. The guns and other war materiel seized by government troops from retreating BIFF gunmen in the so-called SPMS box in Maguindanao. The conflict, which started Thursday (March 18, 2021), has displaced 4,194 families in the affected towns of Datu Saudi Ampatuan, Shariff Saydona Mustapha, Mamasapano, Shariff Aguak, and Datu Unsay of the province. (Photos courtesy of 6ID)

CAMP SIONGCO, Maguindanao – Government forces pursuing Daesh-inspired Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) in Maguindanao have recovered guns and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) from the fleeing extremists.

Col. Pedro Balisi, commander of 1st Mechanized Infantry Brigade, said Saturday that ongoing clearing operations on the path of withdrawal by BIFF gunmen resulted in the recovery of four assorted rifles, a 12-gauge shotgun, seven IEDs, three handheld communication radios, subversive documents, and fatigue uniforms.

“We have been pursuing the BIFF since Thursday (Mar. 18) following the first encounter with government troopers in Barangay Kitango of Datu Saudi Ampatuan town,” Balisi said.

A military update said five BIFF combatants have been killed so far in the clashes, with two others wounded. On the government side, three troopers have been slightly injured.


He said the encounter that sparked Thursday had resulted in pocket skirmishes in the so-called SPMS box--a military term for the adjoining towns of Shariff Aguak, Pagatin (Datu Saudi Ampatuan town), Mamasapano, and Shariff Saydona Mustapha where the BIFF operates.

“Military clearing operations are ongoing to drive out the violent extremists belonging to the BIFF factions of Kagui Karialan and Abu Toraife in the SPMS box,” Balisi said.

Meanwhile, the Office of the Civil Defense in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao recorded some 4,194 families displaced by the conflict.

Raylindo Aniñon, OCD-BARMM director, said relief teams from the affected towns are currently attending to the needs of the evacuees.
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Major General Juvymax Uy, Army’s 6th Infantry Division commander, has placed all military units in Central Mindanao on heightened alert to thwart any attack plotted by the BIFF against communities and military installations in the region.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1134306

Hunt on vs. Reds in ambush of 7 cops in CamNorte

From the Philippine News Agency (Mar 20, 2021): Hunt on vs. Reds in ambush of 7 cops in CamNorte (By Christopher Lloyd Caliwan)



A manhunt is underway against communist terrorist group (CTG) members behind the attack in Camarines Norte that killed five police officers and injured two others on Friday.

Philippine National Police (PNP) Officer-in-Charge, Lt. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar on Saturday said he has ordered the Police Regional Office (PRO) 4A (Calabarzon) and 5 (Bicol) and coordinated with the military to go after the perpetrators of the ambush.


“Ambushes like this do not usually succeed without the help of the CTG supporters. So I am also ordering the RD (Regional Director), PRO5 to conduct a thorough investigation to identify those who may have aided these NPA (New People’s Army) members in the conduct of their ambush and to bring them to court,” he said in a statement.

Eleazar also deplored the attack which he said provides that the communist movement never desired genuine peace for the country.

“The CPP-NPA-NDF (Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front) has been given all the opportunity to sit down in order to give peace and development a chance for the Filipino people. Yet over the years, they repeatedly turned down peace negotiations and instead resort to cowardly attacks even in the time of the pandemic," he said.

He, meanwhile, condoled with the families of the slain police officers and vowed a stiff response to the communist terrorists’ treacherous acts.

“Clearly, these people do not understand the language of peace so will deal with them in a manner that they fully understand our message that we shall never tolerate this kind of terrorism activity,” he said.

Initial reports showed that police personnel from the 2nd Provincial Mobile Force Company (2PMFC) were sent to the vicinity of a road construction project in the municipality of Labo, Camarines Norte which will connect it to a portion of Quezon province to hasten transport of goods for local farmers and mobility of residents.

On Friday night, seven members of the 2PFMC were ambushed in the vicinity of Purok 6 in Barangay Dumagmang, Labo town. The incident led to a three-hour encounter where the five police officers died while two of their colleagues were wounded.

On Saturday, reinforcement troops have been deployed to the scene and retrieved the bodies of their slain colleagues. The injured police officers are now in a hospital.

The names of the deceased police officers were withheld pending notification of their families.

Eleazar has ordered the PRO 5 to provide necessary medical assistance to the wounded police officers and ensure appropriate benefits for the bereaved families of the fallen police officers.

"These five young men held their ground and died with their boots on while protecting the barrio against communist terrorists. They deserve all due recognition and honors for their heroism," he said.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1134318

Gov’t vows to protect sovereign rights over West PH Sea

From the Philippine News Agency (Mar 20, 2021): Gov’t vows to protect sovereign rights over West PH Sea (By Gigie Arcilla)



The Philippine government on Sunday vowed to remain steadfast in its duty to protect Philippine sovereignty and its sovereign rights in the country’s maritime domain amid reports on the presence of Chinese maritime militia vessels at Julian Felipe Reef in the West Philippine Sea.

The National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea (NTF-WPS), in a statement, said the Philippines shall adhere to its commitment to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

“The government shall continue to peacefully and proactively pursue its initiatives on environmental protection, food security, and freedom of navigation in the West Philippine Sea as part of its overall national security policy,” the NTF-WPS statement read.

The NTF-WPS expressed concern about the confirmed report from the Philippine Coast Guard that around 22 Chinese Fishing Vessels (CFVs), believed to be manned by Chinese maritime militia personnel, were sighted moored in line formation at the Julian Felipe Reef (Whitsun Reef) on March 7.

“The NTF-WPS notes this circumstance as a concern due to the possible overfishing and destruction of the marine environment, as well as risks to the safety of navigation,” it said.



The Reef is a large boomerang-shaped shallow coral reef at the northeast of Pagkakaisa Banks and Reefs (Union Reefs), located approximately 175 Nautical Miles west of Bataraza, Palawan.

It is within the Philippine Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and Continental Shelf (CS), over which the country enjoys the exclusive right to exploit or conserve any resources which encompass both living resources, such as fish, and non-living resources such as oil and natural gas.

The statement added that despite clear weather at the time, the Chinese vessels massed at the reef showed no actual fishing activities and had their full white lights turned on during night time.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1134335