By JOHN RIZLE L. SALIGUMBA
Davao Today
“Maayo pa ang mga batan-on nakahuna-huna og repares aning bukid. Naghinaut ko nga daghan pang sama nila ang mohimo ani (I thank the youth for taking action to reforest our mountains. I hope more will do the same thing)," said Alice Lindasan, one of the residents, noting that nothing of this sort of help had been done to their community before.
By JOHN RIZLE L. SALIGUMBA
Davao Today
Parago said that the Garcias have “no real performance or track record to speak of” as well as “no inclination to represent the interests and aspiration of the Lumads, workers, peasants,” among other sectors.
By JOHN RIZLE L. SALIGUMBA
Davao Today
Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay assailed the military's action as it “shows the government's desperation to cover up the situation of the victims of typhoon Pablo-- the neglect of the victims' needs, the corruption in its relief and rehabilitation efforts, and worst, the harassment of people who exposed these, leading to the killing of Cristina Jose, the leader of the Pablo victims' organization.”
By JOHN RIZLE L. SALIGUMBA
Davao Today
Missioners were already on their way back to the town center from Sitio Limot in Barangay Binondo, the site of their relief mission, when their contingent met a roadblock allegedly set up by members of the Philippine Army’s 67thInfantry Battalion. The missioners are forced to spend the night in Sitio Cabuyao Nursery, Barangay Binondo in Baganga, the site of the infamous “Baganga Massacre” that killed three children in August 2002 when military allegedly strafed a house of the resident where members of the New People’s Army (NPA) were believed to be staying.
The community’s fear of the military is not without history. In 2002, a paramilitary group called Alamara, which the community alleged as military-backed and whose members wear camouflage uniforms like ordinary soldiers, have threatened to kill and rape women including Bigkay.