By DANILDA L. FUSILERO Davao Today With the killing of paramilitary leaders in Arakan Valley, the harassment against lumad leaders have intensified, and worst, they are carried out in the guise of pangayaw. For tribal leader Sergio Lumunday, such pangayaw is bereft of its true sense, which is done to defend the community when all other peaceful means have failed.
By DANILDA L. FUSILERO Davao Today “Ours was a prenda-arendo contract and we have agreed to plant organic rice only. Now, why are they forcing us to plant bananas?”-- Gil Piquero, Chairperson of Kahugpungan sa mga Mag-uuma sa San Isidro
By MARILOU AGUIRRE-TUBURAN Davao Today “They insisted we are NPAs because we live in the mountains. But I told them that we lumads don’t live in urban areas, rather in the hinterlands because it is where we get our source of living” -- Datu Tinoy Noa
By DANILDA L. FUSILERO Davao Today The Mindanao Lumad Alliance, Kalumaran, urges Aquino to “put an end to the killings, abuses, and military recruitment of Lumad paramilitaries in our communities that failed to bring peace and development” as it called to “stop this deception that mines, dams, and agribusiness will bring in development.”
By ALEX D. LOPEZ Davao Today Data from the provincial Department of Social Welfare and Development reveals that 309 families or 1,108 individuals fled and are now seeking temporary refuge in the different evacuation sites in Batulawan village and in Poblacion Pikit.