A guiding light

“When I leave here, I will become a guiding light for you all. Don’t give up, but continue the struggle,” were reportedly among Bai Bibyaon Ligkayan Bigkay’s last words to her loved ones before she died last November 20. The first and only woman warrior chieftain of the Lumad led her people in resisting the […]

‘Wala silang pagrespeto sa akin at sa aking katribu’

“Wala silang pagrespeto sa akin at sa aking katribu dahil tingin nila sa akin ay walang kakayahan upang mag-pasya. Naging lider ako ng aking katribu dahil alam nila na ako ay may kakayahan na mamuno upang depensahan ang aming lupain. Nagreresolba ako ng problema sa aming komunidad dahil alam nila na mapapadali ang pag-aayos. Alam kong hindi mapagkakatiwalaan ang mga susundo dahil sila ang dahilan ng aming pagbakwit at sila din ang protektor sa mga kompanyang gustong mandambong sa aming mga lupang ninuno.”

PNP’s Oplan Sauron and SEMPO killed the Tumandok 9—Bishop

San Carlos Bishop Gerardo Alminaza said that the Rizal Day massacre of the Tumandok is similar to the massacre of six and the mass arrest of 26 in the towns Guihulngan, Mabinay, and Sta. Catalina in Negros Oriental in December 2018 as well as the killing of 14 farmers in the island in March 2019.

Lumad group: Duterte’s ‘Manobo leader’ is fake, crooked

A Lumad alliance warned that President Rodrigo Duterte’s invitation to a paramilitary leader to join the fight against the New People’s Army has dire consequences against indigenous peoples’ communities in Davao. In a statement, the PASAKA Confederation of Lumad Organizations in Southern Mindanao Region said Mindanao Indigenous People’s Conference for Peace and Development chairperson Joel […]

AFP, PNP enforce another food blockade against Lianga evacuees

The Philippine Army and the Philippine National Police (PNP) are enforcing another food blockade against the Lumad evacuees in Lianga, Surigao del Sur, a human rights group reported. The 75th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army (75th IBPA) as well as the local PNP blocked food aid brought by Church groups at around 11:30 AM, […]

Warrior chieftain hostaged and tricked to surrender, Lumad say

The reported surrender of a legendary tribal leader last June 9 in Talaingod, Davao del Norte was an orchestrated gathering by the military that victimized the ailing and elderly chieftain, Lumad organizations and leaders said. Lumad organizations Salupongan Ta ‘Tanu Igkanugon and PASAKA Confederation of Lumad Organizations in Southern Mindanao Region said Datu Guibang Apoga, […]

Group launches book on land grabbing in the Philippines

Campaign and advocacy group Philippine Network of Food Security Programmes (PNFSP) launched a book on the festering injustices on land grabbing in the Philippines in a ceremony in Quezon City last May 17. PNFSP said the book “Land Grabbing Cases in the Philippines: Greed, Hunger & Resistance” is the first ever book that documented such […]