The Military’s Eastern Mindanao Command (EastMinCom) claimed the New People's Army (NPA) already killed seven indigenous peoples (IP) in its area of responsibility this year.
Lt. Col. Ezra Balagtey, EastMinCom spokesperson, said they are doing their best to protect the community, particularly the Lumad in far-flung areas.
"Our troops have been conducting security operations to protect our communities," Balagtey said.
The military operations, Balagtey said, often result to encounters, leading to the death or arrest of NPA members behind the killing of natives.
Balagtey said they also advocate for IP empowerment, particularly in their Indigenous Peoples structure.
The latest victim, according to 36th Infantry Battalion spokesperson Capt. Francisco Garello Jr., is Rexan “Loloy” Liwanasan Brital, a Manobo tribe chieftain, 36, and resident of Sitio Nalindog, Barangay Bolhoon, San Miguel, Surigao del Sur.
He was killed by four gunmen, suspected to NPA members, while on his way in Nalindog around 5 p.m. last Wednesday.
Brital died from six gunshot wounds.
The victim was said to be a former official of the militant Tribal Filipino Program of Surigao del Sur (TRIFPSS), who recently shifted support to the DepEd-accredited IP School known as School of Living Traditions (SLT).
Brital allegedly exposed the irregularities in the curriculum of TRIFPSS where their children were being radicalized.
Based on the EastMinCom record, the first Lumad murder was recorded on Feb. 4 when armed men gunned down Junard Mampaundag inside his house in Talaingod, Davao del Norte.
On April 4, Artemio Takinan was ambushed by a motorcycle-riding assailant in Magpet, North Cotabato.
On July 12, Nilo Torino was shot to death while sitting on their balcony in Kicharao, Agusan del Norte.
On July 26, Nestor Hedi Trinidad was also killed while buying a cigarette in Lanuza, Surigao del Sur.
On August 4, motorcycle-riding gunmen killed Datu Bedog in Las Nieves, Agusan del Norte.
On August 12, armed men abducted Benedicto Lindawan from his house. He was killed in a farm near his house in Bukidnon.
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