DAVAO CITY – Villagers and human rights advocates and have staged a rally outside a military base in Davao City in southern Philippines and protested continued militarism in the countryside.
Members of the women’s group called Gabriela also joined the protest and accused the military of violating human rights of civilians, including indigenous people in the region.
Other human rights groups also accused security forces as behind extrajudicial killings of tribesmen tagged falsely tagged as supporters of communist rebels.
“Majority of the victims of state fascism are Lumads,” said Mary Ann Sapar, of Gabriela.
She said just recently a school for indigenous people – Fr. Fausto Tentorio Memorial School – run by the Mindanao Interfaith Services Foundation in Kitaotao town in Bukidnon province, was forcibly padlocked by village officials who were accompanied by army soldiers.
“Students and their teachers have suffered trauma from the closure of the school,” Sapar said.
Dozens of students were affected by the closure of the school. Soldiers accused the parents and relatives of students as either members or sympathizers of the New People’s Army rebels, an allegation strongly denied by the students and their teachers. (Mindanao Examiner)
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