DAVAO CITY – Gabriela Women’s Party Representative Luzviminda Ilagan wants to stop funding paramilitaries and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) battalions deployed in Mindanao who she said are “responsible for terrorizing Lumad communities.”
Ilagan in a statement said, “we must stop funding paramilitaries and we must stop asking mining and logging interests to fund them as well.”
Ilagan also said the government should pull out the Army battalions in Mindanao from the communities.
She also asked for punishment against mining and logging companies who “fund and coddle paramilitaries”.
Ilagan said that the Department of National Defense (DND) will be made to explain the massive deployment of armies in Mindanao as the House Committee on Appropriations deliberates the proposed budget of the agency.
Almost 3,000 residents from far-flung communities in Surigao del Sur have evacuated after an attack by paramilitary troops belonging to the Magahat Bagani Force.(davaotoday.com)
