DAVAO CITY, Philippines — An ethnic group decried on Monday the killing of Veronico “Nico” Delamante, a tribal leader of Mamanwa tribe was gunned down by unidentified gunmen riding a motorcycle on Friday, Jan. 20 in Claver, a mining town in Surigao del Norte.
The Kusog sa Katawhang Lumad sa Mindanao lamented that Delamante’s death came a day before the signing of the Supplemental Guidelines to the Joint Monitoring Committee of the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law last Jan. 21, in Rome, Italy.
Dulphing Ogan, KALUMARAN secretary general, challenged the government probe the killing of Surigao IP leader who championed the rights of the Lumad in Surigao del Norte.
“To make full use of these supplemental guidelines to investigate the culpability of state forces in this case of extra-judicial killing. Through the years, the armed forces have shown a pattern of giving mercenary protection to big mining companies,” Ogan said, citing the case of peasant leader Jimmy Saypan in Compostela Valley who slain last October due to his critical stance on both large mining interests and militarization of communities.
According to Ogan, Delamante is the 11th victim of extra-judicial killings under the Duterte administration.
“Nico was a staunch defender of their ancestral domain and against the entry of big mining companies that encroached in their communities,” Ogan said of Delamente.
He noted that despite the improving developments of the pace talks of GRP-NDFP, “the AFP and its mercenaries have continued to wreak havoc in Lumad communities.”
“The continuing implementation of the Community Peace and Development (COPD) – an anti-insurgency program under its new name Oplan Kapayapaan of the current administration will not help in any way of attaining peace instead it will aggravate the worsening conditions of the Lumad in Mindanao who have been constant victims of militarization and development aggression,” Ogan pointed out.
With this, KALUMARAN has called on President Duterte “to take full control of the AFP and heed the demand of indigenous rights advocates to stop military attacks on Lumad schools and villages and to pull out military forces inside Lumad and rural communities.”
Delamente was a provincial coordinator of Katribu Partylist since 2010 and an active member of the Kahugpungan sa Lumadnong mga Organisasyon, the regional Lumad organization in Caraga.
He was also a council member of the AMPANTRENTO, an NCIP-recognized organization of the Lumad people in Claver. (davaotoday.com)
