Teody Mansimuy-at, leader of the Talaingod Manobo group Salugpugan 'Ta Tanu Igkanugon, uses a spear to symbolically hit government agencies they claimed had allowed foreign mining companies to encroach their ancestral domain. This rally took place at the Mines and Geosciences Bureau during the Earth Day commemoration. (Earl O. Condeza/davaotoday.com)
Leaders of the Manobos trooped to the offices of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) and the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) Tuesday to report abuses purportedly committed by the military in their community of Talaingod, Davao del Norte.
Church and civil society groups based in the United States will hold an online forum livestream and webinar to show solidarity with the more than 1,300 Talaingod Manobos who have evacuated their homes in Talaingod, Davao del Norte since April 2.
Around a week ago, when the reports of the Talaingod Manobo exodus first began trickling in, I happened to glance at a copy of a Mindanao regional daily at a local cafe. The front page proudly bannered that two battalions had been brought in from Luzon to add to counter-insurgency operations here in the Davao region. In my gut, I knew that this happy headline had something to do with the misery of my friends and many others in Talaingod.
Lumad Manobo evacuees squatted around a projection screen, some kids clung to a mango tree to get a better vantage point while women held their tots tight as they intently watched the boxing fight.