Press release
6 November 2012
The 10th Infantry Division’s court martial of the soldiers responsible for the Tampakan Massacre of Juvy Kafeon and her two sons is just a tactic to douse the rage of the people on this incident.
The Blaan people are enraged against the 27th Infantry Battalion under the command of Lt. Dante Jimenez for their action on October 18. This is not a simple “tactical lapse” as the 10th ID claims but rather this massacre aims to weaken the struggle of Daguil Kafeon and the Blaans against the Sagittarius Mines, Inc. (SMI).
For the Lumads of Socsksargen and Davao del Sur, they have a long struggle in defending their ancestral land against large-scale mining since the entry of Western Mining Corporation in 1993, which was replaced by SMI-Xstrata.
For a long period, military “clearing operations” have tortured, detained and killed the Blaan and Tboli people, farms were destroyed, communities evacuated with the purpose of weakening their defence of ancestral domain.
The struggle of the Blaans like Daguil Kafeon’s pangayaw (tribal war) against SMI has branded him as a bandit, and his family has been massacred.
We again condemn the 10th ID’s ploy to cover up the crime of the 27th IB against the Lumads. They should face courts and face the full extent of justice for the massacre of the Kafeon family.
The Lumads also demand the pullout of military troops and SMI-Xstrata from their ancestral lands. The Lumads also urge President Noynoy Aquino to stop the mining liberal policy and other policies that plunder our ancestral land and national patrimony.
For reference
Dulphing Ogan
Secretary General, Kalumaran
KALUMARAN – Kusog sa Katawhang Lumad sa Mindanao
Bale’k Lumad
Block 6, Lot 60 – Del Pilar Ext., Belisario Village
Agdao, 8000 Davao City
PHILIPPINES
Tel: +63 82 321-6895
Mobile: +63 946. 703-7490
Email: kalumaran@yahoo.com
