Natives for fled military offensives in Davao del Norte’s Talaingod town enjoy songs by various groups in Davao City in southern Philippines. Two photos sent by Kilab Multimedia to the Mindanao Examiner regional newspaper show young fire performers.
DAVAO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Apr. 13, 2014) – The group Samahan ng mga Artista at Manunulat para sa Bayan or Sambayan held a cultural night for some 927 Talaingod Manobo evacuees from Davao del Norte province now staying at the United Church of Christ in the Philippines Haran compound in the southern Philippine city of Davao.
The performances rendered songs calling for peace and the protection of the ancestral land and the environment.
Niel Cervantes, chairperson of Sambayan, said: “What we are witnessing is only a bit of the rich culture and arts of the Lumad through their dances and songs. But more than our performances, this is a night to unite with the roots of our country.”
“Our lumad sisters and brothers here are calling for the pull-out of military troops in their areas after they experienced aerial bombing and many forms of abuse from the soldiers. Any form of aggression upon their land like military operation ultimately destroys their culture,” he added.
Several artists’ groups from Davao also joined the event – the group Kaliwat, in their songs, expressed their solidarity with the evacuees whom the group considered as “the defenders of Pantaron Range,” the source of all our bodies of water in Mindanao, and the Manobos are the ones defending it against its aggressors like the big logging and mining companies.
The group said sung Agila, a song written by Joey Ayala.
Kathara, also one of the performing groups, rendered the traditional Manobo dance. The groups Silab, Jazzistas de Davao, Spiral and Kuntaw likewise performed.
Children evacuees from the Salugpongan Learning Center in Sitio Dulian also performed, singing their school anthem “Salugpongan”, and “Tagumpay nating lahat” popularized by Lea Salonga.
The group Sambayan stated: “We are joining the evacuees in their quest for genuine peace. We believe in peace that is based on justice- it also means respect for human rights and asserting the rights of the lumads to self-determination and their ancestral domain.”
The group is calling for the immediate resumption of the peace talks between the government and communist rebels as it hopes for the approval of significant agenda in the said negotiation particularly on Comprehensive Agreement on Socio-Economic Reforms.
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