By DANILDA L. FUSILERO Davao Today “NPA man kaha ilang kalaban, nganong kung tudluan namo asa padulong ang mga NPA, dili man lagi nila gukdon. Kami man noon pasanginlang NPA (The NPAs are their supposed enemies. Yet how come that even when we tell them where the NPAs are, it is us that they chase after? Instead, they accuse the civilians as NPAs,” Stella Imbud, a Manobo lumad said.
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.
By ALEX D. LOPEZ Davao Today Zarate also noted that since 2001, of the more than a thousand victims of extrajudicial killings especially during the regime of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, “majority of those killed were either leaders or members or supporters of Bayan Muna.”
By ALEX D. LOPEZ Davao Today The convention will also be the venue where Makabayan’s platforms as the criteria for their basis of endorsing local and national politicians will be announced.
By MARILOU AGUIRRE-TUBURAN Davao Today The Women Studies and Resource Center (WSRC)-Southern Mindanao noted that the Davao Region has the highest incidence of VAW cases accounting 34 percent of the total national incidence. In the last 10 months this year, it said, the Davao City police recorded 1,391 cases of domestic violence or an average of five cases per day. The top three forms of gender violence among women are domestic violence, sexual harassment and rape.