But the presence of the soldiers has disrupted the farming activities and the classes of school children.
According to one of the villagers, the upland farms that the children maintained have been destroyed as they’ve been “trampled upon.”
The soldiers also limited to only an hour the residents� time to visit their farms even if most of their farms are quite far from where they live.
Soldiers said they are in the community to give the people �assistance� but the villagers said they are being recruited to join the Barangay Defense System, bagani force (warrior) or Civilian Armed Forces Geographical Unit (Cafgus). Villagers were also told to patrol the areas at night and report any information about the NPAs.
The fact finding team that visited sitio Dulyan learned that soldiers are living in this house at the back of the basketball ring.(davaotoday.com photo)
Once, the soldiers ordered 40 men to build a structure they intended to use as a clinic. Instead of paying them for their labor after two days of work, the soldiers just gave the men two �gantang� of rice, eight cans of sardines and eight packs of noodles. The men provided the woods and building tools while the soldiers provided the nails.
Then, the soldiers asked the men to build again a �purok� (village hut).This time, the men no longer receive anything from the soldiers as payment for their hard work.
Instead of using these new structures, the soldiers occupied two houses in the community. One of the owners refused to go back to his house after the soldiers occupied it.
Datu Doloman Dawsay, spokesperson of the Salugpungan, said villagers feel threatened by the presence of soldiers. �Soldiers have enemies, so, if their enemies attack, we will be included because they�re living with us.�
Lumad group Pasaka said soldiers only intend to “use” the villagers as human shields against the New People’s Army. Pasaka said the soldiers violated the Geneva Conventions Protocol II which says in part IV, article 13 that �the civilian population and individuals shall enjoy general protection against the dangers arising from military operations.��
Kerlan Fanagel, secretary-general of Pasaka said the giant corporation Nestle Philippines is also eyeing 40,000 hectares for coffee plantations within ancestral lands of the Ata-Manobos in Talaingod. �The soldiers are there to protect the interest of this company,� he said.
Tribal leaders, teachers and Lumad support groups have filed a complaint before the Commission on Human Rights against the soldiers for the harassment of teachers. They also questioned the soldiers’ presence in the community which violates the international law that says soldiers should stay out of civilian areas.
Tribal leaders, teachers and Lumad support groups filed a complaint before the Commission on Human Rights against the soldiers for harassing them and calling their school as �fake.�(davaotoday.com photo)
The group also filed a complaint against the soldiers for holding for an hour a factfinding team who entered sitio Dulyan in time for the Bwalawan festival in September, preventing the team from leaving the area.
�If they are after the NPA, they should go to the mountains,� Datu Dawsay said. (Grace S. Uddin/davaotoday.com)
