Nanawagan ang mga magsasaka, mga tsuper at maralitang taga-lunsod sa harap ng Malacañang kaninang umaga na paalisin na sa pwesto si pangulong Noynoy Aquino. Hindi lamang anila dahil sa kanyang malaking kasalanan sa insidente sa Mamasapano kung hindi dahil sa kabiguan ng pamahalaan nito na mabigyan ng sapat na hanapbuhay, tamang sweldo at lupa ang masang anakpawis.
Mendiola, Manila
March 24, 2015
Illustrated manifesto of the Noynoy Out Now (NOW) Movement, which was launched March 5, 2015 at the Quezon City Sport Club, laying down the context, basis, and goals of the people’s ultimate drive for the ouster of President Noynoy Aquino.
March 18, 2015 – After months since evacuating from their communities, Lumad Bakwits in Brgy. Balit San Luis, Agusan Del Sur may finally be able to return to their homes as army officials promised to pull out from civilian facilities and cease camping near populated areas.
This declaration was made by no less than Lt. Col. Ricardo Dumawa, Batallion Commander of the Army’s 26th IB during a dialogue set at Balit’s baranggay hall. Local officials represented by Agusan Del Sur Gov. Adolph Edward Plaza and San Luis Mayor Ronaldo Corvera also reminded troops that these were prohibited. The Lumad leaders who attested to the truthfulness of their claims against the army’s abuses could not help but applaud in agreement. Local officials likewise assured the Lumads of a safe passage and food assistance as they return to their communities.
Witnessing the dialogue were more than 200 placard bearing Banwaon Bakwits who valiantly marched from their evacuation site where they have been staying since January of this year.
This recent development sent waves of relief to the lumad bakwits and their support groups who have painstakingly pieced together a vigorous campaign to remove the operating troops in the area who are responsible for a plethora of abuses including camping in civilian facilities such as village halls and Lumad schools, recruiting paramilitary forces and being implicated in the killing of village chief Necasio Precioso Sr.
“The urgent dialogue set up by the local government was their reaction to a multifaceted and vigorous effort to pressure them to act; from sustained protest actions, camp-out protest, lobbying efforts, dialogue with the Army’s Eastern Mindanao in Davao, international solidarity mission and others,” says Kalumbay Chairman Jomorito G. Goaynon.
The municipal mayor also volunteered to visit one of the eight Lumad schools which ceased operations after being affected by militarization to better know the program and its staff for local coordination.
Goaynon adds that key to the success of the campaign was the courage mustered by the lumads to face the armed forces who terrorized their communities. ###
(Repost from RMP-NMR)
“O righteous God, Who searches minds and hearts, bring to an end the violence of the wicked and make the righteous secure.”—Psalm 7:9
We, participants of the International Solidarity Mission implore our just Creator to help his temporal servants bring justice and peace to our Banwaon sisters and brothers in Barangay Balit, San Luis, Agusan del Sur, Philippines currently suffering from acts of the wicked.
Our Banwaon brethren of about a thousand souls belonging to 174 families are being persecuted since the 26th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army (IBPA) launched its so-called Community Organizing for Peace and Development (COPD) in the last quarter of 2014. They are forced to abandon their homes, farms and forests to save themselves, especially their children, from relentless persecution by state forces. They now suffer woeful conditions in an evacuation center, unheeded by civilian government officials and institutions mandated to care for them.
Inhumane persecution from state forces
Our mission documented 93 cases of human rights violations, including indiscriminate firing, restriction of movement, gun-touting, destruction and divestment of properties, use of public facilities for military purposes, use of civilians as guides or human shields, fake surrenders, threats, harassments, and intimidation against the Banwaon in San Luis. Barangay Balit Chairperson Necasio Precioso was extra-judicially killed on December 22, 2015 while on his way to a dialogue at the Municipal Hall on the issue of the soldiers’ illegal and unwelcome stay in his community. We unearthed the killing of Salcinita Manlapinding and her nephew Oto Precioso last year by the paramilitary group Mabantag led by Narding Pascual, a CAFGU member. Women and children suffer the most from these evil acts perpetrated by the 26th IBPA stationed in the Banwaon communities of San Luis.
The mission confirmed and documented the encampment of elements of the 26th IBPA at the barangay hall of Barangay Nuevo Trabajo and near the barangay hall of Barangay Balit, in violation of official pronouncements and the international humanitarian law enshrined in the Geneva Conventions. These acts are also immoral as their presence in civilian communities terrifies the populace, especially women and children.
Inhumane conditions at the evacuation center
Since their evacuation four children have died because of diseases and the lack of necessary medical attention. The evacuees live in a constricted place without livelihood, limited source of clean water, and woeful lack of hygiene facilities. They suffer from cough, fever, dysentery, urinary tract infection, and hypertension as a result. They find it difficult to cope with daytime heat and nighttime cold. They are emotionally stressed by their condition and lack of proper nutrition that make them more susceptible to even the most common of diseases.
The medical clinic conducted during our mission served 108 patients, 40 of whom were offered more consultations and check-ups because of the severity of their ailments. At least 150 children participated in the play sessions we organized as part of our psycho-social interventions to try to lessen their emotional and mental traumas. The children shared their hardships during their evacuation to Balit when they had to walk for two days. They complain about the lack of food in the evacuation center, unlike in their communities where they were at least innocent of such depravity. Even the children know the AFP and its COPD cruelly drove them away from their communities.
Inhumane violation of their rights
The Banwaon’s refusal to apply for a Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT) must be respected and not considered as a subversive decision. They have collectively decided not to surrender their age-old stewardship of their ancestral domains to a piece of paper. Experience has taught them that a mere certificate means nothing in the face of destructive activities such as large-scale mining and logging by local and foreign corporations. They know that such so-called developments are only implemented by intimidation and force of arms by the state and its forces, as evidenced by a pangayaw (tribal war) against them by a paramilitary group led by a fellow Banwaon who is also a CAFGU (Citizen’s Armed Forces Geographical Unit) para-military.
The Banwaon loathe the COPD in their communities and territory. They have not given it a community-defined free, prior and informed consent (FPIC). It is clear that the military forced their will and way in complete disregard to universally accepted indigenous peoples’ rights. Fourteen communities are abandoned and cultural and traditional structures are endangered as a result.
Our conclusions and demands
We express our deep disappointment with the inaction and lack of concern of the local government unit of San Luis to the plight of the Banwaon evacuees in Barangay Balit. They refuse to act on the petitions of the victims against the illegal and immoral military encampments of military units. To date, they have only given 20 sacks of rice to the evacuees, good only for a day when the evacuation is already several weeks long.
We condemn the inutility and criminal inaction of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP). According to the evacuees, the NCIP still has to pay them a visit, even when they are legally and morally obligated to do so.
We support the Banwaon currently in Balit who we regard not as hapless evacuees but as an indigenous people bravely fighting for their rights to land, life, resources and self-determination. We support them not only with the humble things we have given them but as comrades in their struggles as well. We share their dreams of being back in their communities to serve as true stewards of their lands and its blessings. We lend our voices to their demand that the 26th IBPA and the paramilitary groups leave them in peace and at once. We demand justice for the martyrs of their struggles and accountability for the perpetrators of the killings and other human rights violations, not the least of which is the government cruelly violent against this country’s most peaceful yet neglected citizens.
For “When justice is done, it brings joy to the righteous but terror to evildoers.” (Proverbs 21:15)
= = = = = = =
We are indigenous peoples from other parts of Mindanao and the Philippines, church leaders and workers, health workers, mass media workers, youth and students, and human rights defenders from the organizations of Rural Missionaries of the Philippines (RMP), Asia Indigenous Peoples’ Network on Extractive Industries and Energy (AIPNE), Kalumbay regional lumad organization, Philippine Task Force for Indigenous People (PTFIP), Ecumenical Bishops Forum (EBF), Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI), Missionary Sisters of Mary (MSM), Karapatan-North Mindanao Region, Karapatan-Caraga, Kasalo, Council of Health for Development (CHD), Community-Based Health Services (CBHS), Kalumaran Mindanao, League of Filipino Students (MSU–IIT & Bukidnon), Liga ng Kabataang Moro-Marawi, lawyers, various and others.
09 March 2015, Balit, San Luis, Agusan Del Sur
(More stories at http://www.rmp-nmr.org/)
By Anjo Bacarisas of RMP-NMR
An international solidarity mission belies military claims that their troops are not in public facilities in the Banwaon-lumad populated villages in San Luis town, Agusan del Sur.
In a dialogue facilitated by Davao Mayor Rodrigo Duterte lat February 25, 2015, the commander of the 26th Infantry Batallion of the Philippine Army (26IB-PA), Lt. Col. Rolando Dumawa said their troops are not in barangay halls, daycare centers, and other public utilities in the area.
Military encamped near daycare centers
According to the mission report of the “The Balit Mission: An international journey in defense of the displaced Banwaons” conducted March 9, 2015 in the area, they found out that the military is using the barangay halls which are near the daycare centers as camps while conducting the Community Organizing for Peace and Development (COPD).
Sr. Ma. Famita Somogod and Sr. Francis Anover of the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines believed the military’s presence in public facilities is tantamount to a military takeover of the civilian political structure in the area. Photo taken during the international solidarity mission dubbed as “The Balit Mission” on March 9, 2014 in San Luis, Agusan del Sur.
In an interview with village chieftain Roberto Ceno in Barangay Nuevo Trabaho, he confirmed the military is staying in their barangay hall and other public facilities for two months now.
In Barangay Policarpo, 2 kilometers way from Barangay Balit, residents admitted that the military has been using the barangay facilities as base camps amidst the denial of one of the village councilors.
The residents told that the military in the public facilities were fast to move away from the area while the international solidarity mission were approaching.
Meanwhile, San Luis Vice Mayor Jose Chua said he knows that the military is conducting COPD in the barangays but has no idea that they were using public facilities.
Chua also said there were no human rights violations in the area since he did not received any report about it.
However, four months ago village chieftain Necasio “Angis” Precioso, Sr. of Balit, San Luis, Agusan del Sur was shot to death by alleged agents of the 26thIB-PA after opposing the COPD in their village. Angis was a prominent environmental activist and Banwaon leader opposed to the entry of mining and logging operations in their ancestral domain.
Violation
In Article 10, Section 22(e) of Republic Act 7610, states that public infrastructures such as schools, hospitals and rural health units shall not be utilized for military purposes such as command posts, barracks, detachments, and supply depots.
Sr. Mary Francis Anover, RSM, national coordinator of the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines, said the encamped military in barangay halls and other public facilities invites threat to the community.
“In the guise of conducting census and consultations they are putting the lives of the civilians, especially the children in the community at risk,” Anover said.
Bishop Raul Amorcillo, Bishop of Iglesia Filipinia Independiente, Diocese of Bukidnon, said he observed during the mission that in the indigenous communities in Agusan del Sur Martial-law is present.
Confrontation
The contingent of “The Balit Mission” went to the main camp of the 26thIB-PA in Talacogon, Agusan del Sur, to confront their officials about the presence of their troops in public utilities.
Captain Soquera, logistics officer of the 26IB-PA, said the group should file a complaint and request for a dialogue so he can forward it to other high ranking officials.
During the confrontation, Soquera said Lt. Col. Dumawa was not around.
Rights Violations
“The Balit Mission” is an offshoot of the increasing human rights violations in the area. The assassination of Precioso Sr. who was also a Banwaon datu and the evacuation of around 1000 individuals due to militarization prompted local and international organizations to collect facts about the situation of the Lumads.
Precioso Sr. was a human rights defender since 1995 against the entry of mining corporations in Agusan del Sur.
Meanwhile, the Banwaons in 14 communities in the hinterlands of San Luis municipality flee from their homes due to militarization guised as COPD.
The Banwaon datus of the said community were united that the COPD is intended to pave the way of large mining companies in their ancestral domain.
Most of the evacuees were women and children.
According to Community-Based Health Services (CBHS) in Northern Mindanao, as of last month around 40-percent of the evacuees have amoeba. Nine of them were diagnosed with Tuberculosis while common colds and flu were still the most prevalent cases in the evacuation site.
“The Balit Mission” also confirmed the records of Karapatan-Northern Mindanao Region (Karapatan-NMR) that there were 25 cases of threat, harassment and intimidation and two cases of extrajudicial killings in the area.
Three children already succumed to sickness in the evacuation site.
All in all, there were 93 cases of different human rights violations in San Luis, Agusan del Sur, due to COPD this year only.
An international journey in defense of the displaced Banwaon
Butuan City
March 8-9, 2015
On January 23 of this year, 174 Banwaon families (composed of around 1,000 individuals, approximately 80% of whom are women and children) from the communities of Kimambukagyang, Tabon-tabon, Tabanganan, Nakadayas, Pig-ulingan, Mimpalaos, Maputi, Kandiisan, Tambo and KM 48 went on a massive exodus to the village center of Balit in the municipality of San Luis, Agusan del Sur. They were running from forced development.
Orientation before the mission at Missionary Sisters of Mary, Butuan City.
Participants from Cagayan De Oro.
Aldeem Yanez, ISM Coordinator, Ecumenical Bishop Forum, North West Mindanao
Municipality of San Luis, Agusan Del Sur
LOBBYING: ISM delegates with Vice Mayor Jose Chua of San Luis, Agusan Del Sur
San Luis Municipal Police Station
PINSP Rodel Razon Dorado of San Luis Municipal Police Station: Necasio’s case is still under investigations.
Military elements were seen inside the barangay hall of Nuevo Trabajo, Balit, Agusan Del Sur.
Military camp at Balit, Agusan Del Sur, a few meters from the Banwaon evacuation center.
Displaced Banwaon families from 14 communities of San Luis, Agusan Del Sur.
Participants in yesterday’s planned prayer and human chain activity to call for justice and accountability on the occasion of the 29th anniversary of the first People Power uprising vented their ire on police officers who blocked their path and caused metro-wide gridlocks. Instead of sustaining the people’s solidarity in light of the Mamasapano debacle that butchered 44 of their colleagues, the police’s duplicity wasted the rare goodwill heaped on them by the people, the participants said.
Church leaders revealed in their speeches the excuses offered by police commanders who previously agreed to plans laid out by event organizers. These were greeted by jeers and hoots by the event participants.
A human chain was nevertheless held in the late afternoon when all efforts for the police to remove their blockade failed. It stretched from the foot of the EDSA-Santolan flyover all the way to EDSA-New York.
February 23, 2015 – At mid-day, the gates of Almont hotel’s inland Resort were deliberately closed as security personnel scamper to control hundreds of placard holding Caraganons lining it. Inside, Sol F. Matugas, Chairperson of the Regional Development Council Delivers his first ever State of the Region Address in front of a delegation of Caraga’s regional line agencies, Local government units and partners.
“If Sol F. Matugas is telling all of us about the state of the region, he should be all accounts put into writing what we have to say” exclaims Franklin Campos, of Lumad group KASALO-Caraga. “Only few government officials have faced us since we went down from our communities and now the RDC is talking about the state of the region without allowing us to give an input on our situation in the rural areas? They should listen and face us before they dare make any grand narrative about the state of the region.“ Campos adds.
Today is the 20th anniversary since former President Fidel Ramos signed RA 7901 in 1995. The act which formally made Caraga into a special administrative region. However, unknown to most, Caraga region first took its shape way back during the Spanish period the colonizers set-up a military garrison to reinforce their invasion of Tandag. Since its inception the words Caraga and Military belonged in the same sentence.
Campos, along with 300 of his companions are part of Tambuli tu Kalinow – Kampuhan sa Butuan. A campaign which mobilized individuals from Caraga regions most militarized communities to directly engage with regional line agencies to demand intervention and swift action. They represent 8 lumad organization under Kasalo-Caraga and 4 organizations under KMP-Caraga. They are calling to “Defend our community! Dismantle the armed para-military of the Butcher EastMinCom!” The group started their week-long camp-out protest cum cultural Caravan since February 18 and have set-up camp at the Libertad Sports complex.
Prior to their picket-rally the Almont Hotel, the group tried to have talks with the Regional Peace and Order Council (RPOC) chairman, Butuan Mayor Amante, but failed to get contact with him as he was “out of town”. Days before, the body has had talks with the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples – XIII officer-in-charge Atty. Pinky Grace Pabelic who was absent, NCIP acting regional hearing officer Atty. John E. Luneta, faced the delegation. He was unable to commit to any actions on the issues raised by the representatives of the lumad people, instead assuring them that he will inform NCIP officer-in-charge Pinky Grace Pabalic, who was not in her office, about the issues. Their main agenda was the dire situation that Aquino’s anti-insurgency program “Oplan Bayanihan” brought them.
“Oplan Bayanihan, Aquino’s counter insurgency program” says Franklin “has wreaked havoc in our rural communities because of our firm and organized grassroots actions to resist the incursion of Mining, plantations and energy projects. It has unleashed a mighty war machine that is composed of nine full combat battalions, four of which (2 scout ranger and two special force battalions) are under the Special Operations Command of the Philippine Army augmented by a host of paramilitary groups”
According to Campos, since 2012 under the US-Aquino regime, more or less 10,000 people have been dislocated from their livelihood from not less than 50 communities in 4 provinces in the Caraga region. There has already been 10 evacuations since the previous year of 2014 until the first months of 2015, victimizing 1,165 lumad and peasant families or 5,172 individuals. At present 413 families with 1,652 individuals are still in the evacuation centers in Bunawan, Bayugan and San Luis in Agusan del Sur, while 122 families or 591 individuals that evacuated in Diatagon, Lianga, Surigao del Sur since October 2014 had recently been able to return home. They evacuated because of the killings of their leaders, harassments, their communities turned into garrisons and cyclic military operations of the 3rd Special Forces Battalion, 4th Scout Ranger Battalion, 75th and 26th IB PA. Ten (10) lumad and peasant leaders were killed during the AFPs military operations in 2014 until February 10, 2015. Paramilitary groups accompanying the military troops committed cold blooded killings and other crimes against the people. The group of Calpet Egua, Marcos Bocales who call themselves ‘Bagani’ or ‘Magahat’ and the ‘Maggahat’ group of Mario Napungahan are mainly armed by the AFP to commit harassments in the mountains. Included among these groups are Eddie “Komander Bawang” Ampiawan and Benhur Mansulonay’s armed groups turned CAFGU.
Also, Campos adds that 124 leaders of MAPASU, TAGDUMAHAN and KASALO-Caraga; leaders and active members of UMAN, KAMASS of KMP-Caraga have been filed trumped up cases. Forty three (43) of these were cases filed last 2014 and includes lumad leaders Jalandoni Campos, MAPASU chairperson and Genasque Enriquez, Secretary General of KASALO Caraga.
The group has set to engage the regional heads of the Department of interior and Local Government and the Department of Justice before capping their week long camp-out protest with a big mobilization on February 25 in time of the annual celebration of the 1986 EDSA Revolution.
“We hope to have gained some positive gains before we depart for our homes. Until then, we shall maintain our offensive posture.” says Campos. ##
The group staged a two-hour piket-rally cum cultural caravan outside the agency’s office while their leaders simultaneously went in for a dialogue with the agency’s regional officials.
Martial law in rural Caraga
Describing the situation in their communities as “under a state of undeclared martial law”, the group urged the agency to primarily take the lead in dismantling the various paramilitary groups present in the Caraga region as well as to take a hand in solving the plethora of human rights violations which targets lumad communities, organizations and their leaders who are staunch critics of Mining and agri-business corporations encroaching their ancestral domains.
According to Franklin Campos, Kasalo-Caraga Spokesperson “Caraga region has experienced an escalation of human rights violations in the past months. In fact, as of this time 413 families or 1,165 individuals are internally displaced from lumad communities. They are currently cramped in the evacuation centers in Bunawan, Bayugan and San Luis Agusan del Sur.“ These people fled their homes and farms because of the cyclic military operations of the Philippine Army’s nine combat battalions done under the blessing of the BS Aquino regime in line with his Oplan Bayanihan.
“Not only that,” says Franklin, “adding into AFP’s war machine are the Paramilitary groups who are armed by the military.” Provided with technical and logistical support, these groups accompany the military troops in their combat operations. He adds that the names Calpet Egua, Marcos Bocales, Mario Napungahan and Loreto Mayor Dario Otaza who call themselves ‘Bagani’ or ‘Magahat’; Eddie “Komander Bawang” Ampiawan and Benhur Mansulonay’s armed groups turned CAFGU are commonly mentioned by the people when asked who they are running from. Unbounded by any war protocol, these groups commit cold blooded killings and other crimes against the people including the harassments against Lumad school teachers and students. They have also destroyed schools and community socio-economic projects.
To make matters worse, the commission also has a hand in the formation of these paramilitary groups and has in several instances encouraged lumads applying for CADT’s to form armed militias.
In the absence of NCIP-Caraga officer-in-charge Atty. Pinky Grace Pabelic who was absent, NCIP acting regional hearing officer Atty. John E. Luneta, faced the delegation. He was unable to commit to any actions on the issues raised by the representatives of the lumad people, instead assuring them that he will inform NCIP officer-in-charge Pinky Grace Pabalic, who was not in her office, about the issues. He assured them that the commission will provide a formal response within fifteen working days.
The more than 300 indigenous peoples and peasants are part of the Tambuli Tu Kalinow – Kampohan sa Butuan (Call for peace-Butuan Camp-out). Currently camped at the Libertad Sports Complex, they represent lumad organization under Kasalo-Caraga and peasant organizations under KMP-Caraga. The group will be conducting of dialogues with concerned government agencies among other activities highlighting their calls which will culminate in a multi-sectoral rally on February 25, 2015. ##
