Former ?Mutya ng Dabaw? and Davao Today columnist Joan Mae Soco has always dreamed of enjoying the beaches of Phuket, Thailand. Little did she know that, only six hours away by land, in Baganga, Davao Oriental, is a paradise that is just as lovely. She filed this report about a recent trip there.
The indigenous peoples of the Malaysian state of Sarawak have to contend with forces of tradition and development that often clash. The resultant cultural, economic and political stirrings are not unlike what the Lumads in Mindanao go through. Davao Today associate editor Germelina A. Lacorte, who spent weeks in Sarawak earlier this year as part of her journalism fellowship with the Southeast Asia Press Alliance, chronicles the struggles of our neighboring tribes.
(Conclusion) If the extrajudicial executions and forced disappearances are indeed part of state policy and the government?s counterinsurgency program, it is then impossible for victims and their relatives to obtain…