DAVAO CITY – Members of Congress’ Makabayan bloc condemned as “forcible and violent” the attempts to evict tribal families from a church compound here.
“We strongly condemn the Philippine National Police and the Alamara’s attempts to forcibly and violently evict the Lumads from the refuge given them by the UCCP Haran,” Representative Luzviminda Ilagan of Gabriela Women’s Party said.
“Forcing Lumads to go back to militarized communities is a death sentence. The Lumads cannot return to their ancestral lands for as long as the military insists on occupying their communities and schools,” she said.
Ilagan added that forcing the Lumads to go home will only endanger them.
Members of the Davao City Police Office, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and paramilitary group Alamara forced their way inside the Haran compound owned by the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) Thursday morning.
Ilagan said the lumad evacuees are being forced to return home despite the continuing occupation of military forces in the area. At least 15 Lumad evacuees were reportedly injured.
Bayan Muna Rep. Karlos Zarate said “this unprovoked action by the police and Alamara is not only a disrespect of the privacy and sanctity of the UCCP grounds, but is also highly illegal and criminal as it was done without any warrant or court order.”
Zarate said the forcible entry is “another blatant violation of the rights of the bakwits (evacuees).”
“The harassment, threats, killings, bombardments, and other human rights violations committed by state forces are the reason why these people has sought refuge at the UCCP Haran,” Zarate added.
Ilagan said “if Rep. Nancy Catamco wanted to help the Lumads, then she should start forcing the military out of ancestral lands, along with all the mining equipment owned by multinationals that the AFP vowed to protect.”
The Gabriela solon said the Lumads were forced to evacuate after they were repeatedly threatened and harassed by the military. Schools that have been put up and operated by the Lumads and volunteers were forced to close down after the AFP used these schools as barracks and accused teachers as well as parents of being members of the New People’s Army.
Ilagan said the attacks on indigenous groups worsened amid Aquino’s endorsement of large scale mining operations in the country.
Human rights group Karapatan and indigenous peoples group, Katribu documented the killing of 61 individuals belonging to various indigenous groups in the country, of which 46 of them are from Lumad tribes in Mindanao.
“The Lumads want to go home, but their lands have been transformed into killing fields under Aquino’s five-year rule,” Ilagan said.
Meanwhile, Karapatan said Catamco should be made accountable for further violating the rights of the lumads.
“She insists on bringing the indigenous peoples back to the fields where the military has killed and tortured Lumad women and men, ransacked and pilfered their homes with their meager belongings, destroyed and bombed their fields, occupied their self-made schools and traumatized the children,” Karapatan said in a statement.
“Here is (an) Aquino ally who mimics the President’s anti-poor type of governance, acting like Senora Santibanez upon the sight and smell of poor farmers and indigenous peoples deprived of social services and driven out from their homes and fields by the military,” it said.
“As a public official, she should be made accountable for her shameless and despicable actions,” Karapatan said. (davaotoday.com)
