Manobo mother Aisa Pinantao, 23 from Sitio Kalingahon, Noa village said they were forced to evacuate because the military has dropped bombs to their farms, just few meters away from their house. With her three children and other neighbors, they left their homes and livelihood and forced to stay at the village center for safety last December 3.
By DANILDA L. FUSILERO
Davao Today
KIDAPAWAN CITY, Cotabato, Philippines — The brutal killing of Italian missionary Father Fausto Tentorio and the continuing military operations and displacement of lumads highlight the commemoration of the 64th International Human Rights day in the municipalities of Arakan Valley, Magpet and Kabacan this province.
In Magpet, over 500 members of the progressive party-lists groups Katribu, Kabataan, Gabriela and Anakpawis; and victims of human rights violations from the town staged a two-stationed rally in front of the Municipal Hall and outside the headquarters of the 57th Infantry Battalion in Gubatan village. Farmers organizations from the municipalities of President Roxas and Makilala also joined the rally.
In Arakan Valley, nearly 200 farmers and lumads belonging to the Arakan Progressive Peasant Organization and Tinananon-Kulamanon Lumadnong Panaghiusa rallied in front of the headquarters of the Philippine Army’s 10thSpecial Forces in Naje village.
Another picket-rally was staged along the intersection of USM Avenue and national highway in Kabacan town by more than 30 members of the youth groups Kabataan Party-list and Anakbayan.
Ruby Padilla-Sison of Makabayan-North Cotabato and Gabriela Women’s Organization told davaotoday.com that under the present administration of President Noynoy Aquino, there are 129 victims of extrajudicial killings from July 2010 to October 2012. The region of Southern Mindanao ranked third with 14 cases of political killings while the region of Socsksargen ranked seventh with seven cases.
Arakan Parish Priest Father Peter Geremia questioned the Aquino government for “allowing the continuous killing of people by mere suspicion and due to their political advocacies just like during the Martial Law.” He also expressed disgust over the slow process of attaining justice for the victims of political killings like the case of Tentorio and the Capion family in the boundaries of South Cotabato and Davao del Sur.
A prayer-rally was first staged in front of the Hall of Justice before the caravan of protesters trooped to Magpet.
Bai Norma Capuyan, during the rally in front of the 57th IB headquarters lambasted the military’s explicit violation of the provisions of the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law. The military post is located within the civilian population where the nearest household is less than 15 meters away.
“Kung tinood mo nga sundalo sa katawhan, angay lang nga mosunod mo sa mando sa mga tawo. Pahawa namo sa mga teritoryo sa mga lumad sa Magpet ug Arakan. Katawhan ang angay ninyong dapigan ug dili ang mga investors nga gustong modaut sa among mga yutang kabilin,” Capuyan said during the rally.
Recently, the villages of Bagumbayan, Noa, Doles and Amabel in Magpet were subjected to “intense military operations” and “open mortar shellings.” Data from the Manobo Arumanen Pasakaday Association (Mapa) documented the increasing number of lumad families evacuating their communities for fear of open mortar shelling. To date, there are nearly 600 families who evacuated to the village centers while some stayed with their relatives in the villages’ safer areas.
“Posibleng makaya pa ang harassment ug pagpang-ipit sa mga sundalo, pero ang bomba di na jud. Unsaon na lang kung sa among mga balay matugpa ang mga bomba sa military, mao napugos jud ang mga tawo nga mamakwit. Ang uban pamilya nanguli na unta unya kay padayon man ang operisyon, balik napud sila bakwit,” Mercy Iyong of Mapa told davaotoday.com.
Manobo mother Aisa Pinantao, 23 from Sitio Kalingahon, Noa village said they were forced to evacuate because the military has dropped bombs to their farms, just few meters away from their house. With her three children and other neighbors, they left their homes and livelihood and forced to stay at the village center for safety last December 3.
Pacita Alyog, 64, an evacuee said, “Unom na ka adlaw nga gibiyaan namo among balay ug gamay nga gomahan, karon sayang kay di nami ka-tapping sa among goma. Sa among pagbakwit, among gipangbuhian among mga hayop para makalikay pud intawon sila sa bomba.”
Meanwhile, ASLPC’s Loreto Calimpitan scored the 57thIB during the rally in Arakan Valley. In a phone interview, Calimpitan said the military forces are bound to destroy the remaining ancestral territories of the lumads in Arakan, Magpet and other lumad areas in the province. He echoed Capuyan’s statement that military operations are designed to dislocate the lumads and open their ancestral lands to either mining or cash crop plantations. (Danilda L. Fusilero/davaotoday.com)
