DAVAO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Apr. 12, 2014) – Tribal leaders on Friday demanded the pull out of troops in Davao del Norte’s Talaingod town, blaming them for widespread human rights violations and suffering of indigenous people in the area.
Security forces launched an operation in the town to flush out the communist New People’s Army rebels largely blamed for attacks on government and military targets, and on mining firms.
Tribesmen also rejected food aid offered by Mayor Basilio Libayao to villagers who fled the town for fear of being caught in the crossfire or become victims of military assaults in the area.
“We do not need your relief goods, our demand is to pull out the soldiers from our community,” the Salugpongan ‘Ta Tatanu Ig Kanogon (Unity in Defense of Ancestral Land) told the politician.
More than 1,000 tribesmen have sought refuge to Davao City and are currently being sheltered by the United Church of Christ of the Philippines.
The group’s leader Datu Duloman Dawsay said many evacuees refused to return to the town due to the widespread militarization in the area. He also cited several cases of harassment, including sexual assault against an elderly tribeswoman, aerial bombing and threats and intimidation allegedly perpetrated by the military.
PASAKA or the Federation of Lumad Organizations in Southern Mindanao, one of the groups that helped facilitate the safe evacuation of the natives, was also threatened with a lawsuit by Libayao, according to Dawsay, for forcing the villagers to evacuate to Davao.
Sidro Andao, the group’s spokesman, denied the mayor’s allegations. “We did not violate any customary tradition of our Lumad brothers and sisters in helping them vacate their communities after the military launched aerial bombings in the area. The ones who violated our culture and our human rights are the soldiers, and the local government was the one that allowed them in,” he said.
The military’s Eastern Mindanao Command strongly also denied all accusations of human rights violations and also branded the allegations as “propaganda.”
Captain Alberto Caber, a spokesman for the military command, said the operations were aimed at weakening the NPA in the province following reports by civilians of massive abuses and atrocities committed by the rebel group.
“We are the protector of the people and we uphold human rights of every citizen and our operation is aimed at the communist terrorists who continue to their atrocities not only in Davao, but elsewhere in the region,” he said in a separate interview.
Caber also released statements by tribal leaders and politicians in Talaingod denying reports of military abuses in the town. “For truth and peace, there were no abuses committed by the soldiers in the area. If indeed there are, then I myself will defend my people,” Caber quoted Libayao as saying.
“The mayor also revealed that the residents were discreetly gathered by a group called PASAKA at night to leave their residences in order to make it appear that the soldiers on peace outreach in the area committed abuses. Mayor Libayao further said that they are seeking assistance from Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte to let the evacuees return to Talaingod,” Caber said.
“We are capable to attend the needs of our constituents. The organizers did not inform local authorities of their plan to bring the evacuees to Davao City. We are seeking assistance to the good mayor of Davao City to bring back our constituents here in our municipality. We also apologize for any disturbance, in one way or another, they may have caused,” the mayor was quoted as saying.
Caber, citing reports by social workers, said only 300 tribesmen have evacuated to Davao City.
Datu Ruben Labawan, leader of the Supreme Tribal Council for Peace and Development, said the evacuees need to return to their respective homes and farms to live normally. “I appeal to the organizers, do not exploit the plight of the indigenous people, do not put us at risk. Please respect us,” he said.
Other tribal leaders said PASAKA does not represent the indigenous tribes in Talaingod and has not right to speak in their behalf.
Caber said troops have captured several rebel camps and recovered landmines during the operations which began just recently.
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