DAVAO CITY — Days after policemen raided a church compound here, indigenous peoples organizations held their own version of State of the Nation Address inside the Haran Mission Center compound on Sunday.
The Pasaka Confederation of Lumad Organizations in Southern Mindanao initiated a State of the Lumad Address a day before President Benigno Aquino III delivered his last SONA.
In a statement, Kerlan Fanagel, secretary general of Pasaka said they held the activity to report the real state of the lumads, especially in the countryside “where massive poverty and fascism remains.”
Professor Mae Fe Templa, a convenor of the Exodus for Justice and Peace who supports the lumad evacuees said, “the efforts of the lumads here to establish their community learning schools for almost a decade and other social services are proof of their self-reliance and strong unity.”
Templa said the lumads have proven that their decades of struggle “can never be defeated” citing the recent violent raid that ensued on Thursday with the regional police.
Meanwhile, Sister Stella Matutina of the Sisters Association in Mindanao (Samin) recognized the lumads role as protectors of the environment.
“You are our teachers who taught us about defending our environment,” she said.
Matutina was among those who were charged with Kidnapping, Serious Illegal Detention and Human Trafficking cases filed by the CIDG for allegedly keeping the lumads in the church compound.
“I am one of those whom they charged of kidnapping and abusing you. But I will never turn my back to you because we know there was no kidnapping here. We will continue to seek justice,” she said.
Last Thursday, around 500 policemen together with officials from the Department of Social Welfare and Development and National Commission on the Indigenous People attempted to “rescue” the evacuees inside the church compound to bring them back to their communities. The attempt resulted to a commotion injuring at least 15 individuals.
Police alleged the evacuees were padlocked and held against their will inside the evacuation center.
However, Benito Bay-ao, council leader of Salugpongan Ta Tanu Igkanogon said their experiences from the Army and the paramilitary group Alamara in their communities forced them to evacuate.
“Ang among nasinati sa mga militar ug paramilitar nga Alamara sa among komunidad kung diin kami ginapugos mag-armas, ginapunggan sa among pagpanguma ug kanunay’ng ginabaharan ang among kinabuhi ug gireyp among mga kababayen-an maoy mga hinungdan sa among pagpamakwet (Our experiences of being forced to arm ourselves, prohibit us from farming, threats on our lives and the rape of our women by the Army and paramilitary group Alamara is the reason why we evacuated),” Bay-ao said.
Bay-ao said instead of addressing their issues, government agencies wanted them out of the evacuation center where they sought refuge. (davaotoday.com)
