On Saturday, Manilakbayan delegates held a protest outside the Camp Crame in Quezon City where they denounced the continued human rights violations in Mindanao due to the implementation of the counter-insurgency plan, Oplan Bayanihan, and the displacement of the indigenous peoples due to the presence of foreign-owned and large-scale mining corporations.
By ALEX D. LOPEZ
Davao Today
MANILA, Philippines — “Gikan pa kami sa Mindanao aron ipahibalo dinhi sa kaulohan ang tinuod nga mga panghitabo sa Mindanao (We came all the way from Mindanao to make known the real situation in our island),” said Datu Jalandoni Campos, a tribal leader from Surigao del Sur.
Campos, leader of the Malahutayong Pakigbisog alang sa Sumusunod, is one of the 70 delegates of the Manilakbayan, a People’s Mobilization for the Defense of Land, Environment and Human Rights, who wanted to bring to the National Capital Region (NCR) the real issues and situation in Mindanao.
On Saturday, Manilakbayan delegates held a protest outside the Camp Crame in Quezon City where they denounced the continued human rights violations in Mindanao due to the implementation of the counter-insurgency plan, Oplan Bayanihan, and the displacement of the indigenous peoples due to the presence of foreign-owned and large-scale mining corporations.
Pastor Jurie Jayme of the human rights group Karapatan in Southern Mindanao, said “the activity will directly refute the claims of President Noynoy Aquino, especially to the international community, that human rights violations in the country are only part of leftist propaganda.”
Campos lamented on the continued suppression they experienced as they opposed the entry of large-scale mining corporations to their ancestral lands.
He said to silence them and force them to abandon their cause, “They charged us with these trumped-up cases.”
“Kini nga mga kaso parehas ra sa mga kaso sa mga ordinaryong kriminal nga walay bail bond (These cases are similar to those files against ordinary criminals without bail bond),” Genasque Enriquez, the second nominee of Katribu partylist said as he blamed the Philippine National Police to be part of the grand design to silence those who defend their lands.
But despite this, according to Campos, they will carry on the fight against human rights violations, defend their ancestral domains and resist the threats of large-scale mining companies.
“With Manilakbayan, we hope to inform the people of the true state of Mindanaons especially in the rural areas, and debunk the lies that President Aquino has been peddling,” Enriquez said.
Other campaigns
Manilakbayan delegates also campaigned for the freedom of all political prisoners (PPs).
There are currently 401 PPs languishing in the country’s different jail facilities, the Karapatan-NCR noted. Out of this total number, 123 were arrested during Aquino’s reign.
“The figure runs contrary to Malacañang’s claim that there are no political prisoners in the country,” Karapatan-NCR said.
Meanwhile, in another set of activity organized by the Promotion of Church Peoples Rights in Quezon City Saturday, Bai Virginia Tugay, a Banwaon and leader of Tagdumahan tribal organization shared the struggle of her tribe in defending their lands. She also shared the killing of another Tagdumahan leader, Genesis Ambason.
Ambason was tortured and killed in September this year in Agusan del Sur by alleged members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
Datu Petronilo Cabungcal, a Pulangion tribal leader from Bukidnon Province, also shared the killing of environmental activist, Margarito Cabal, whom he believed was murdered “due to his unrelenting advocacies against the construction of the megadam (in Bukidnon).”
Cabungcal also lamented the presence of the military, particularly the 8th Infantry Battalion in their village. “Diha gyud sa sentro sa among barangay sila nagkampo (They are really encamping in the village center),” he complained.
The tribal leader believed that the presence of the military is aimed to watch their moves and suppress their activities against the construction of the megadam.
“Nalipay ako niining Manilakbayan kay mapahibalo na nako sa kadaghanan nga ang tribu sa Bukidnon, ilabi na kami nga nagabatok sa mega dam padayong nakasinati og pagpanghasi (I am happy with Manilakbayan because it gives us the chance to inform a lot of people that our tribe in Bukidnon, especially to us who oppose the megadam, continue to experience harassments),” Cabungcal said.
Datu Lucio Igpad from Natulinan, Palma-Gil, Talaingod in Davao del Norte province asked for support for their campaign against the threats of large-scale mining and massive militarization in their area.
Indophil Resources, an Australian mining company, is exerting all-out efforts to operate in their place, Igpad said. He believed that the mining company is utilizing the military, especially the 60thInfantry Battalion to pressure the people to allow large-scale mining in the area.
The fear of Datu Igpad was confirmed by Aida Siesa, the secretary-general of peasant group Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas in Southern Mindanao, who said that “militarization in Talaingod is related to large-scale mining.”
Siesa scored the military for sowing fear in Natulinan which already affected elementary and high school pupils. “They refused to go back to school due to fear of the presence of the military,” she said. (Alex D. Lopez/davaotoday.com)
