IPs urged to leave Haran and return to their home in Talaingod

From the Philippine Information Agency (Oct 22, 2020): IPs urged to leave Haran and return to their home in Talaingod (By Jan Vincent Leuterio) 

DAVAO DEL NORTE, Oct. 16 (PIA) - Now is the opportune time for Indigenous Peoples (IPs) still in Haran to go back to their ancestral land in Talaingod which has become a focused area of local and national government services.

Col. Norman Valdez of 56th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army pointed this out as he called on Haran IPs to return to their ancestral domain and live in peace with their loved ones.

“Yung mga IP brothers and sisters po natin na nasa Haran, eto na po ang pagkakataon ninyo na bumalik na sa inyong ancestral domain. Mamuhay ng mapayapa, mamuhay kasama ang inyong mahal sa buhay, para hindi po kayo magamit pa ng CPP-NPA over self-interest (To our IP brothers and sisters in Haran, this is the chance for you to come home to your ancestral domain. Live in peace, live with your loved ones, so that you will no longer be used by the CPP-NPA for their own self-interest),” he said during his guesting in the latest episode of Kapihan sa DavNor.

According to Valdez, the IP evacuees were brought to Haran to be used by the CPP-NPA to generate funding from foreign countries.

“Alam naman po natin na etong mga evacuees na dinala sa Haran ay ginagamit lang po sila para maka generate nang funds from foreign countries (We know that these evacuees brought to Haran are being used so that [the CPP-NPA] can generate funds from foreign countries),” he said.

He added that the funding doesn’t go to the hands of the IPs in Haran, but to the NPA fighters themselves.

“Kung nandiyan na po ang pundo, hindi naman napupunta doon sa mga evacuees sa Haran kung hindi napupunta po eto doon sa mga NPA fighters (When the funding comes, it doesn’t even go to the evacuees in Haran. The funding goes to the NPA fighters),” Valdez said.

In addition to using them for income, the CPP-NPA also work to influence the youth in Haran to become NPA fighters, which Valdez stressed the need for them to be brought back to their communities.

“Alam po natin na ang mga kabataan na nasa Haran ay ini-influensyahan po nila at later on, eto po ang magiging pool of NPA fighters nila. So kailangan po nating e save etong mga tao na nasa Haran at ibalik sa kanilang mga communities (We know that the youth in Haran are being influenced by them. Later on, they will become a pool of NPA fighters. So we need to save the youth in Haran and return them to their communities),” he said.

Valdez noted that the coming home of the IPs in Haran will be key to ending the funds coming from foreign countries.

“Pag eto pong mga tao na nandito sa Haran at maibalik na natin sa community, at hindi na sila makapag isip pa ng mga IPs na madala doon sa Haran, mapuputol po ang fund generation nila coming from foreign countries (When we put these people in Haran back to their community, they [CPP NPA] won’t be able to think of IPs to bring to Haran, their funding generation from foreign countries will end),” he said.

With the “whole-of-nation” approach concentrating the effort of the government in supporting the IP communities, Valdez is confident that Talaingod is now a worthy place for the evacuees to come back to.

He particularly cited Governor Edwin I. Jubahib’s housing project which prepares houses for the return of the IPs currently residing in Haran.

“Marami po siyang mga projects tulad ng pabahay intended po to para sa mga pamilya na nandoon pa sa Haran. Pag umalis na sila doon merong naghihintay na bahay, livelihood at education opportunities para sa kanila (He [Gov. Jubahib] has a lot of projects such as the housing intended for the families still in Haran. A house, livelihood, and education opportunities are waiting for them if they leave Haran),” Valdez said. (Jan Vincent Leuterio/ jmda PIA-XI)

https://pia.gov.ph/news/articles/1056487