Indigenous Peoples

?Commander Dante? Surrenders

Related Stories
In Paquibato, a `Sham? Public Hearing on Atrocities
How to Bully Councilors and Get Away With It
Alamara Disbandment Sought to End Terror in Paquibato
2 More Paquibato Residents Killed as Bandits Continue Rampage
Zones of War and Peace Eyed in Troubled Paquibato

By Cheryll D. Fiel
davaotoday.com

DAVAO CITY ? ?Commander Dante,? the most wanted man in this city who have been blamed for terrorizing residents in Paquibato District the past months, is now in the hands of the authorities.

Police identified ?Commander Dante? as Dante Lumuyod, a 38-year-old resident of Gumitan, a village in Paquibato.

Lumuyod was presented to Mayor Rodrigo Duterte Monday afternoon after he surrendered to the police and the military last Saturday in Paquibato, a hinterland district of the city, known for being the battleground between the military and the communist New People?s Army.

(more…)

Continue Reading?Commander Dante? Surrenders

Underneath Gold?s Glitter, Realities of Suffering, Dispossession

By Grace S. Uddin

DAVAO CITY (davaotoday.com) ? It?s easy to get mesmerized by the glitter of a gold ring. But there?s a story behind its allure.

It takes the excavation of 20 tons of soil to produce such a ring. Imagine for a second the toll such a process exacts. Destroyed land. Felled trees. Stripped mountains.

In the context of the Philippine countryside, include these: Displaced communities, dispossessed families, violence, even death.

Such is the havoc large-scale mining has wrought in many communities in the Philippine countryside, anti-mining activists said last week.

(more…)

Continue ReadingUnderneath Gold?s Glitter, Realities of Suffering, Dispossession

In Paquibato, a `Sham’ Public Hearing on Atrocities

What was billed as the City Council’s public hearing to get Paquibato residents to talk about the atrocities in the district turned into a display of official indifference and, according to witnesses and victims, arrogance.

Col. Mirar, Councilor Militar and Col. del Rosario

By Cheryll D. Fiel
davaotoday.com

Photos by Barry Ohaylan

PAQUIBATO, Davao City ? Lenny Nacua wanted officials to hear what happened to her son, and perhaps get some assurance that justice wouldbe done.

So on Wednesday, April 5, Nacua mustered the courage to face the officials onstage ? city councilors, police and military officials, Lumad leaders ? during the City Council’s public hearing here on the killings and violence in Paquibato District allegedly perpetrated by a group of bandits.
(more…)

Continue ReadingIn Paquibato, a `Sham’ Public Hearing on Atrocities

In Siocon, Subanens Continue Struggle Vs Canadian Mining Firm

Related story
Subanen supporters of TVI ask critics to ?leave us alone?; company says mining brought benefits to community

Contributed photo
Bishop Jose Manguiran of Dipolog leads the re-consecration of Mt. Canatuan

SIOCON, Zamboanga del Norte — For two years, timuay (tribal chief) Jose Anoy has not been able to set foot in his home. Home is Mt. Canatuan, the most sacred place for the 2,000 Subanen people, which has been encroached into by the mining firm Canada?s Toronto Ventures Inc (TVI) since 1994.

Anoy said that the TVI has prevented him from returning home because he refused to give consent for the company to mine 508 hectares located in the Subanen?s sacred land.

?The company offered me money before, and shares in their profits,? he recalled. ?Accepting this could have been easy, but being a timuay, I remained firm for the sake of the Subanen.?

His stand forced the company to lay it hard on Anoy — driving him away from his own home. Since then, TVI has taken over Mt. Canatuan, barricading the area with three checkpoints.

(more…)

Continue ReadingIn Siocon, Subanens Continue Struggle Vs Canadian Mining Firm

2 More Paquibato Residents Killed as Bandits Continue Rampage

By Cheryll D. Fiel
davaotoday.com

DAVAO CITY — Two more residents in Paquibato were killed last week, the latest in the spate of killings in the hinterland district allegedly perpetrated by a bandit group that has ties to the military.

The victims, who came from different areas in Malabog, a village in Paquibato, had been stabbed; one of them, a 25-year-old man identified only as Luciano, was slashed in the neck. The other victim, Reynaldo Ca?ete, 35, also lost his carabao to the killers.

Generoso Baon, an official of Malabog, told the GMA-7 news program Testigo that the bandits had been running amok after Mayor Rodrigo Duterte announced a bounty for their capture.

(more…)

Continue Reading2 More Paquibato Residents Killed as Bandits Continue Rampage