DAVAO CITY — More or less 2,000 Lumad, farmers and small scale miners from different parts of Davao region set up a barricade in front of the Army’s Eastern Mindanao Command headquarters in Panacan, Davao City to call for the pull out of military troops from the communities. The entrance and exit points in the north part of the city was totally closed for more than six hours on Friday, March 18.
At around 6:30 pm, the protesters negotiated with the Department of Education represented by Janet Veloso, Chief of Curriculum and Learning Management division. They demanded DepEd to call for the military’s pull out from Lumad schools and to revoke Memorandum Order No. 221, which they say, allows military presence in schools. The protesters gave a month for the agency to act on their demands.(davaotoday.com)