Human Rights

by JOHN RIZLE. L. SALIGUMBA Social Welfare Secretary Corazon “Dinky” Soliman said 62,000 people have fled from barangays affected with…

Benjie Planos, a Bisaya settler living among the Manobos, and other leaders of KASAKA had been receiving death threats from the Philippine Army’s 26th Infantry Battalion and the paramilitary group Bagani. the militarization, KASAKA leaders said, is linked with the entry of New Britain Palm Oil Ltd, which is eyeing KASAKA’s ancestral domain.

“It can happen to any of us. Even because of a mere police story. As long as someone wants to silence you.” So says multi-awarded journalist and editor-in-chief Stella Estremera after a trial court found her and former publisher Antonio Ajero guilty of libel for publishing an alleged one-sided news article 10 years ago.

The country’s largest oil palm plantation based in Agusan del Sur rehired its 293 workers who were ‘unjustly’ terminated last year after a 62-day strike, the Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (CTUHR) reported.

While an international monitoring group points to increased armed conflict between the military and the communist rebels
as the culprit of the Lumads’ dislocation, the heart of the matter is the Lumads’ right to control over their rich ancestral domain.

Before the Agusanon Manobos were displaced due to intense military operations in this province, they were Typhoon Pablo survivors who had to rebuild all over again their ravaged houses and damaged farms.

“Unsaon namo pag-uli nga naa pa may gyera didto sa amoa?(How are we going home when there’s still a war going on there?)” said Jocely Andaliki “At least diri, safety among paminaw, di pareha didto sa amoa nga giabog mi mismo sa among gobernor, (Here, we feel safe, not like there where our governor drove us out).”

Some 400 Manobos refused an order from Agusan del Sur Governor Edward Plaza to leave the capitol compound and dialog with the Philippine Army’s 26th Infantry Battalion in their villages in Loreto town.

By DAVAO TODAY

Hanimay Suazo of Karapatan Southern Mindanao who was with the medical team coming from Davao said there was chaos as they wanted to talk to provincial government officials to calm down the situation, especially when the adults were contained later by the police away from the children awaiting them. “They still have not eaten, it was like they were placed in a concentration camp,” exclaimed Suazo.

JOHN RIZLE L. SALIGUMBA
Davao Today

The Agusanons endured a grueling two-day travel circuiting two provinces. Starting Thursday, they walked four hours from their evacuation center in Barangay Kauswagan, Loreto, Agusan del Sur, crossed a river to reach the neighboring Laak, Compostela Valley. Then they took a bus that brought them to Tagum City in Davao del Norte at night. Friday morning they traveled to Prosperidad and held a camp-in until provincial officials responded.The Agusanons took this circuitous route to steer clear of the military.