DAVAO CITY – An official of the Davao City Council wants to investigate if there was a protocol breach during the operation to allegedly rescue the indigenous people who sought sanctuary inside a church compound here last week.
On Thursday, around 500 policemen from Police Regional Office 11 and Davao City Police Office carried out a “rescue plan” for lumad evacuees who are allegedly held inside the United Church of Christ in the Philippines Haran Mission Center compound against their will.
During the operation, a violent encounter ensued between the policemen who want to forcibly enter the church compound and the evacuees with their support groups who barricaded at the gate. 15 persons were reportedly injured, two of whom were police officers.
Councilor Karlo Bello, chairperson of the City Council Committee on Human Rights said he personally saw “possible breaches of protocol”.
“Kinahanglan motubag ang PNP personnel kay naa ko didto. Naa koy nakita nga possible breaches of protocol, (acting mayor Paolo Duterte) was there (The PNP personnel needs to explain because I was there. I saw possible protocol breaches),” Bello said.
“They should have coordinated with the acting mayor,” Bello said.
DCPO spokesperson Police Senior Inspector Milgrace Driz said they are only there to act on a complaint.
“Naay report sa amoa. Nangayo og tabang ang (Department of Social Welfare and Development), (National Commission on the Indigenous People) ug tribal leaders. Since naay complaint i-act nato as regular duty as public safety officer sa part sa DCPO (We received a report. The DSWD, NCIP and tribal leaders sought for our assistance. And since there was a complaint we acted on it as a regular duty, as public safety officers, on the part of the DCPO),” Driz said.
But Bello said, he believed the operation was “at the behest of (North Cotabato 2nd District Representative Nancy Catamco) observing at a distance.”
“Who authorized the operation? Was the DSWD used to legitimize such a rescue operation just to accommodate the request of Rep. Catamco? Are the personnel of DSWD afraid of (her)?” he said.
“I smell fear in some of our (officials),” Bello said.
He also asked if the DSWD personnel followed their own protocol “or did they just accommodate the request of (Catamco)?”
Bello also asked why the police sent “such a large number” of PNP personnel.
“Didn’t the police director or the regional director of the PNP think that it was necessary to coordinate first with the city mayor, or in that case the acting mayor (Paolo Duterte),” he said.
Bello said the supposed rescue done “failed”.
“You cannot rescue people who do not want to be rescued,” he said.
But Driz said they believe the operation was a success after “more or less six IPs who were sick” were rescued and given medical attention.
Bello, however said, the allegations that the IPs are locked inside the church property “is unbelievable”.
“The fences are low, the IPs stayed at makeshift tents or shelters outside the building. I even saw some of the lumads cooking food, some taking a bath in the open,” he said.
He said the DSWD “appeared to have given more weight to the claim of (Catamco), backed by the statement of tribal leaders who may be aligned with the military than the clear situation at that time that no person was being held against his or her own will.”
Councilor Leah Librado-Yap during her privilege speech said “if Rep. Catamco was indeed bent on the ‘rescue’ of the lumads housed in UCCP Haran who were fleeing military abuses in their mountain communities, displaced folk could not have been injured and a number of temporary shelters will be saved from being destroyed.”
Librado said Catamco should have not brought the cops and the Alamara paramilitary group during the Thursday commotion.
“The (UCCP) compound has served as a sanctuary for lumad fleeing military abuses in Talaingod and Kapalong towns, Davao del Norte for 21 years,” she said.
Librado said Catamco’s idea of a dialogue is “rather twisted” adding that the House of Representatives Committee on the Indigenous Peoples chair “wants to prove something”.
“Her behavior was most inappropriate for a legislator and her role in the incident could not be downplayed,” she said.
Librado said she will file a resolution “condemning the acts of (Catamco) and for her role in the UCCP Haran incident.”
“She had not only betrayed the sector she was supposed to serve, she instigated the worst form of violence against them without considering their rights and demand for a peaceful dialogue,” said Librado.
IP mandatory representative Councilor Halila Sudagar said she sympathizes with the IPs and asked understanding from the public.
“These lumads have fled from their homes and sought refuge in our city due to the alleged militarization in their communities. I only ask for your unprejudiced understanding for our IP brothers and sisters from Kapalong and Talaingod, Davao del Norte,” Sudagar said.
Sudagar also called for a dialogue between the evacuees, support groups and the Davao policemen. (davaotoday.com)
