Kuni made his final trek home to Barangay Kiadsam on June 11 inside a coffin, carried by villagers and relatives. Last June 8 at dawn, he was shot dead by soldiers under the Philippine Army’s 7th Infantry Battalion.
Even after her death, discussions about Talaingod chieftain Bai Bibyaon Ligkayan Bigkay raise the issue of ancestral rights and red tagging that continue to hound and divide her tribe.
Lumad school teacher Rose Hayahay holds a photo of fellow teacher Gelejurain Ngujo II, as Lumad advocates observe the second death anniversary of the New Bataan 5 murders. Ngujo, with fellow teacher Chad Booc, health worker Elegyn Balonga, and two drivers were killed in New Bataan, Davao de Oro two years ago, as Lumad advocates hold soldiers accountable for their murders. (Kath Cortez/davaotoday.com)
For Lumad students, she was called ‘Ino Bai’, their term for elderly or grandmother, whom they encountered over the past seven years and helped them understand their campaign to defend their Lumad schools and ancestral land.
As the first ever woman chieftain of the tribe, Bigkay was credited for uniting, empowering, and rallying the Lumad across villages to stand up to the loggers.