IP leaders laud gov’t efforts to rescue young IPs in Cebu

From the Philippine News Agency (Feb 18,2021): IP leaders laud gov’t efforts to rescue young IPs in Cebu (By Christine Cudis)

Mindanao Indigenous Peoples Council of Elders and Leaders (File photo)

Indigenous peoples (IPs) groups from Mindanao have thanked the police and local government in Cebu for rescuing young IPs from the communities in Talaingod, Davao del Norte.

“Government should and need to act to save these young indigenous people as advocates of citizen rights or Human Rights duty bearer,” Mindanao Indigenous Peoples Council of Elders and Leaders (MIPCEL) and the Mindanao Indigenous Peoples Youth Organization (MIPYO) said in a joint statement released on Feb. 16.

The groups cited the IPs right to proper education that is approved by the Department of Education (DepEd) and will accelerate the IPs knowledge as well as secure them with a degree.

They said the target of the Save Our Schools (SOS) Network, the group that brought the IP youths from Davao del Norte to Cebu City, is to fight not only the present government but also the past administrations.

The SOS Network also wants to abolish Indigenous People's Rights law, the groups added.

“The Rural Missionaries of the Philippines (RMP) were the first to build the so-called Lumad schools in Barangay Lydia in La Paz and Barangay Balit in San Luis in Agusan del Sur and their first program is Literacy and Numerology (LitNum) only and not the whole curriculum of Education according to DepEd regulations so they should apply for DepEd registration so that they will be recognized as a full school,” the statement said.

The groups also said the SOS Network is the one that helped spread “this kind of schools that we know as native schools like Salugpongan Ta Tano Igkanogon Community Learning Center (STTCLC) and Community Training and Resource Center (CTRC) in Region 11, CLANS and Fr. Pops Tentorio Institute in Region 12, MISFI in Region 10 with some schools in Region 12 and 11, TRIPFSS and ALCADEV in Region 13 and AIFSI in Region 11 with also a School in Region 9”.

They said these schools were founded by the organizations that are members of KALUMARAN such as PASAKA, KALUMBAY, ALUHHAMIN and SGS which are also supported by the SOS Network.

These schools are transforming students to become members of the New People’s Army (NPA), an armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).

The IP leaders urged community leaders to look into the activities and system performed by these “supposed educational institutions.”

“These schools are taking students to rallies, campers and the City because they caused the planting of hate and wrong thoughts to fight the government that usually caused them to be put in the situation of violence and became bakwit like bakwit school in UP, bakwit school in Haran in Davao and now bakwit school in Cebu. Situation that pushed them to become victims of NPA recruitment and use them as Child Warriors,” the statement said.

The IP leaders said a member of their tribe Datu Guibang Apuga said that his son Awing became a member of the New People's Army at the age of 12 along with the other young IPs in Talaingod, Davao del Norte who entered Salugpongan schools.

“So he is now leading the call for indigenous leaders to close Salugpongan schools there,” they said.

The groups also said these schools are collecting aid and funds from other countries.

“This is what everyone should know so that we can see carefully why we are thankful for the safety of our indigenous youth in Cebu by their parents with the help of the government,” they added.

In a television interview on Wednesday, SOS volunteer teacher Rose Hayahay maintained that they were not holding the IP students hostage.

Rescue ops

On Monday, Central Visayas police rescued 19 young IPs at the University of San Carlos (USC) in Talamban, Cebu.

Police Regional director Brig. Gen. Ronnie Montejo said they are preparing human trafficking, child abuse, and kidnapping cases against Societas Verbi Divini (SVD) or the Society of the Divine Word, the congregation that supervises the USC.

Montejo said investigation results showed that the IPs, mostly minors, were supposed to be brought only to Davao City in 2018.

Parents, he said, were worried since their children have not returned home since then.

Meanwhile, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) in Region 7 is conducting a "motu proprio inquiry" or probe on the rescue of the IP minors.

CHR 7 director Arvin Odron said the probe shall determine whether rights were violated or were put at risk of being violated so that they can intervene and protect the same or prevent it from recurring.

"As we deal here with children whose rights are prone or vulnerable to abuse, we want to ensure that all stakeholders act ‘for the best interest’ of our children," Odron said.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1130965