FIGHT GOES ON. Tribal leaders share their stories of deception in a dialogue at the Colonel Jesus Villamor Air Base in Pasay City on Thursday (Aug. 8, 2019). They went to the United States in July for a series of speaking engagements about the atrocities of communist insurgents. (Contributed photo)
Leftist organizations including progressive group BAYAN-USA should be open to hear "the other side of the story" and stop harassing people standing up for the truth, a tribal leader said Thursday.
Datu Jacob Lanes, of the Mandaya tribe from Davao City, said leftist groups have "no competency" to claim what the real story of indigenous peoples (IPs) in insurgency-ridden Philippines is.
"Una po, hindi trabaho ng anumang organization ng human rights ang mag-validate kung sino ang indigenous people. Wala po silang competency para magsabi kung sino ang IP. Meron pong National Commission on Indigenous People na pwedeng magsabi, mag-validate sa ilalim ng ating batas kung sino yung IP (First of all, it's not the job of any human rights group to validate who the real IPs are. They have no competency to say who's the real IP. We have the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples which can say and validate under our law)," he said in an interview at the Colonel Jesus Villamor Air Base after a dialogue with the Commanding General of the Philippine Air Force.
Lanes fired back at the claims of BAYAN-USA, which claimed that some of their Filipino-American (Fil-Am) members have visited the Philippines to check the situation of marginalized groups in Mindanao.
"Yung sinasabi ng BAYAN USA na galing sila ng Mindanao at nakapag-immersion sila for two weeks, hindi ibig sabihin two weeks kayo napasyal sa isang lugar ay alam niyo na ang kasaysayan nung lugar (On Bayan USA's claim that they have been to Mindanao for two weeks, it doesn't mean that they've been there for two weeks they already know the history of the place)," he added.
Lanes and seven other tribal leaders who belong to the Mindanao Indigenous People’s Council of Elders (MIPCEL) went to the United States for a speaking tour aimed at rallying the international community against the atrocities committed by the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed wing, the New People's Army (NPA).
Other side
Lanes challenged leftist groups to listen to their narrative and stop shutting their stories down by launching protest rallies and disturbing forums which seek to raise discourse on the plight of the IPs.
“Buksan ninyo ang inyong isipan, ang kaliwanagan kung ano ang katotohanan, sa bawat buhay po, merong dalawang kwento. Dapat bukas tayo na makinig. Kami naman po nung umikot kami, hindi kami naghanap ng away.Ang amin po, maipaabot lang din po yung sarili naming naranasan (Open your minds, the light of the truth. In every life, there are two stories. We should be open to listen. When we toured, we didn't look for a fight. We only wanted to share our experience),” he said.
“Whether unpopular yung narrative, hindi yun katulad ng mga narinig niyong narrative, kung ito man ay bago, dapat itong pakinggan. Dahil lahat tayo naghahanap ng katotohanan (Whether our narrative was unpopular, it's not like the ones you hear, even if its new, you should listen. Because we all want the truth),” he added.
Militant groups stormed the building where the tribal leaders were sharing their stories in front of Filipino communities in America, disrupting their activities in San Francisco and Los Angeles, California, and in Washington DC last month.
BAYAN USA has condemned the speaking tour of the tribal leaders, and called on MIPCEL "disingenuous."
For his part, Col. Gerardo Zamudio, Jr., Assistant Chief of Air Staff for Civil Military Operations, expressed the Air Force's full commitment to help in sharing the narrative of the tribal leaders.
“Itong mga istoryang ito hindi siya nabibigyan ng pagkakataong mapakinggan nung mga ordinary nating kababayan. Ikakalat natin ang istoryang ito. Sa tingin ko doon makikita yung payak na tulong ng ating Air Force. Kung gusto nating imobilize ang ating mga kababayan, dapat dagdagan natin yung size ng information na ikinakalat natin sa ating mga kababayan (These kinds of stories don't get to be heard by our countrymen. Let's help spread this narrative. I think this is where our Air Force can help, in our simple way.)”
During their US tour, the tribal leaders urged the Filipino community to be vigilant in giving support to groups asking for financial assistance, saying these might be channeled to groups affiliated with the CPP-NPA.
The leaders also submitted a formal complaint before the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (PFII) Secretariat, asking them to launch an investigation into the attacks committed by the communist rebels.
A senior official of the US State Department also vowed to look into the tribal leaders’ claims of abuses and attacks by the rebel group.
The CPP-NPA is a terrorist-listed organization by the United States, European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1077386
Datu Jacob Lanes, of the Mandaya tribe from Davao City, said leftist groups have "no competency" to claim what the real story of indigenous peoples (IPs) in insurgency-ridden Philippines is.
"Una po, hindi trabaho ng anumang organization ng human rights ang mag-validate kung sino ang indigenous people. Wala po silang competency para magsabi kung sino ang IP. Meron pong National Commission on Indigenous People na pwedeng magsabi, mag-validate sa ilalim ng ating batas kung sino yung IP (First of all, it's not the job of any human rights group to validate who the real IPs are. They have no competency to say who's the real IP. We have the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples which can say and validate under our law)," he said in an interview at the Colonel Jesus Villamor Air Base after a dialogue with the Commanding General of the Philippine Air Force.
Lanes fired back at the claims of BAYAN-USA, which claimed that some of their Filipino-American (Fil-Am) members have visited the Philippines to check the situation of marginalized groups in Mindanao.
"Yung sinasabi ng BAYAN USA na galing sila ng Mindanao at nakapag-immersion sila for two weeks, hindi ibig sabihin two weeks kayo napasyal sa isang lugar ay alam niyo na ang kasaysayan nung lugar (On Bayan USA's claim that they have been to Mindanao for two weeks, it doesn't mean that they've been there for two weeks they already know the history of the place)," he added.
Lanes and seven other tribal leaders who belong to the Mindanao Indigenous People’s Council of Elders (MIPCEL) went to the United States for a speaking tour aimed at rallying the international community against the atrocities committed by the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed wing, the New People's Army (NPA).
Other side
Lanes challenged leftist groups to listen to their narrative and stop shutting their stories down by launching protest rallies and disturbing forums which seek to raise discourse on the plight of the IPs.
“Buksan ninyo ang inyong isipan, ang kaliwanagan kung ano ang katotohanan, sa bawat buhay po, merong dalawang kwento. Dapat bukas tayo na makinig. Kami naman po nung umikot kami, hindi kami naghanap ng away.Ang amin po, maipaabot lang din po yung sarili naming naranasan (Open your minds, the light of the truth. In every life, there are two stories. We should be open to listen. When we toured, we didn't look for a fight. We only wanted to share our experience),” he said.
“Whether unpopular yung narrative, hindi yun katulad ng mga narinig niyong narrative, kung ito man ay bago, dapat itong pakinggan. Dahil lahat tayo naghahanap ng katotohanan (Whether our narrative was unpopular, it's not like the ones you hear, even if its new, you should listen. Because we all want the truth),” he added.
Militant groups stormed the building where the tribal leaders were sharing their stories in front of Filipino communities in America, disrupting their activities in San Francisco and Los Angeles, California, and in Washington DC last month.
BAYAN USA has condemned the speaking tour of the tribal leaders, and called on MIPCEL "disingenuous."
For his part, Col. Gerardo Zamudio, Jr., Assistant Chief of Air Staff for Civil Military Operations, expressed the Air Force's full commitment to help in sharing the narrative of the tribal leaders.
“Itong mga istoryang ito hindi siya nabibigyan ng pagkakataong mapakinggan nung mga ordinary nating kababayan. Ikakalat natin ang istoryang ito. Sa tingin ko doon makikita yung payak na tulong ng ating Air Force. Kung gusto nating imobilize ang ating mga kababayan, dapat dagdagan natin yung size ng information na ikinakalat natin sa ating mga kababayan (These kinds of stories don't get to be heard by our countrymen. Let's help spread this narrative. I think this is where our Air Force can help, in our simple way.)”
During their US tour, the tribal leaders urged the Filipino community to be vigilant in giving support to groups asking for financial assistance, saying these might be channeled to groups affiliated with the CPP-NPA.
The leaders also submitted a formal complaint before the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (PFII) Secretariat, asking them to launch an investigation into the attacks committed by the communist rebels.
A senior official of the US State Department also vowed to look into the tribal leaders’ claims of abuses and attacks by the rebel group.
The CPP-NPA is a terrorist-listed organization by the United States, European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1077386
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