KAPALONG, Davao del Norte — The mayor of a remote town in Davao del Norte heeded the appeal of a mission group to set a dialogue on September 5, this coming Friday, with an indigenous paramilitary group in his town.
Mayor Edgar Timbol made this agreement in dialogue last Saturday with leaders of an interfaith finding mission, after they raised security concerns due to the presence of armed paramilitary members called the Alamara awaiting them on their entry to Barangay Gupitan.
The dialogue will take place at the municipal hall with tribal leaders who want to air concerns to the paramilitary leader Laris Masoon. Local officials and mission members will be present in the dialogue, but Timbol has yet to confirm his presence for the dialogue.
The mission was set by human rights and religious groups to look into alleged human rights violations by the Alamara and two army battalions encamped in villages in the hinterland of Kapalong. (davaotoday.com).
