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Talaingod 13 at ang nagpapatuloy na pakikibaka para sa katarungang panlipunan

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Ni Nuel M. Bacarra

Sa pagitan ng mga kwento at salaysay, ng mga progresibong awit, ng pakikipag-daupang palad, ng mga bulungan at higikhikan, sa aktwal na daloy ng programa ay nabuo ang isang mas mataas na pagkakaisa para higit pang igiit ang kapasyahang ipagpatuloy ang pakikibaka at iangat ito sa isang mas mataas na antas ng kolektibong paglaban.

Sinalamin ng pagtitipon para sa kampanyang Defend Talaingod 13 nitong Agosto 3 ang pagkikipagkaisa at ang diwa ng paglilingkod sa sambayanan. Ang mga lagda sa manipesto ng pakikiisa ay pasya at matibay na patunay sa paglarga hanggang makamit ang katarungan.

Ito ay naging isang okasyon para itudla sa hinaharap ang mga aral na armado ang estado ng makinarya para lubusin ang lahat ng paraan sa pagpapatahimik sa mamamayang lumalaban. Hindi na epektibo para sa estado na patayin lamang ang mga rebolusyonaryo, ikulong at pahirapan ang mga aktibista at supilin ang pag-ehersisyo ng mamamayan ng kanilang mga karapatan, kabilang na rito ang pagwasak sa mga istrukturang ibinunga ng sama-samang pagkilos.

Ganito ang konteksto kung bakit ang makataong misyon para isalba ang mga bata at mga guro sa Talaingod na naipit sa pagharang ng mga militar at paramilitar na pwersa ng estado ay naging isang kasong kriminal at sistematikong pinilipit ang katotohanan sa kabila ng aktwal na danas ng panggigipit.

Kodao file photo

Katutubong Paaralan

Sa panahon ng rehimeng Rodrigo Duterte, ipinasara ang 216 na paaralan ng mga katutubong Lumad sa buong Mindanao. Apektado rito ang mahigit 10,000 estudyanteng katutubo. Ang pagkakaroon ng mga eskwelahan sa kanilang lugar ay ipinaglaban ng henerasyon ng mga Lumad na naniniwala sa kahalagahan ng edukasyon para sa kanila.

Sa pagsisikap mismo ng mga katutubo at mga organisasyong di-gubyerno, naitayo ang mga paaralang ito na angkop at umaayon sa sosyo-kultural ng pangangailangan ng mga komunidad. Kaya may mga asignatura sila na maliban sa regular na aralin ay meron silang nakalaan para sa araling pang-agrikultura at teknolohiya at aktwal na naisasapraktika ang kaalaman para sa kapakinabangan ng buong komunidad. Ang ganitong uri ng kurikulum ay hindi gusto ng pamahalaan kung kaya inakusahan ito ni Duterte mismo na mga eskwelahan ito ng mga New People’s Army (NPA).

Mga paaralan itong nakatayo sa gitna ng mga bulubunduking bahagi ng kanayunan kung saan nagaganap ang mga armadong labanan sa pagitan ng Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) at ng NPA. Subalit kalabisan na tatakan ang mga paaralang ito bilang eskwelahan para sa pagsasanay ng mga NPA. At dahil sa ganitong balangkas ng pangangatwiran, pwersahan itong ipinasara mismo ni Duterte at AFP sa pamamagitan ng pasistang dahas at pananakot.

Ang utos na ito ay ipinatupad ni national security adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. simula noong 2019. Ipinasara ang 55 eskwelahan na pinangangasiwaan ng Salupongan Ta’Tanu Igkanogon Community Learning Center sa Southern Mindanao, mga paaralang awtorisado mismo ng Department of Education (DepEd). Gayundin ang sinapit ng mga iskul sa ilalim ng ALCADEV (Alternative Learning Center for Agricultural ang Livelihood Development) at TRIFPPS (Tribal Filipino Program of Surigao del Sur) at iba pang paaralan ng mga Lumad sa buong Mindanao.

Isang kabalintunaan na sa kabila ng kakulangan ng mga paaralan sa iba’t ibang lugar sa bansa, ipinasara at winasak ang mga paaralan ng mga Lumad dahil sa “kontra-insurhensyang” programa ng gubyerno at ang armadong pwersa ng estado ang pangunahing instrumentong ginagamit sa pagwasak ng mga istruktura maging ng pangarap ng buu-buong komunidad na magkaroon ng edukasyon.

Soldiers occupying a Lumad school. (SOS photo)

Makataong misyong naging krimen

Hindi na bago kay Rep. France Castro ng ACT Teachers’ Party ang mga humanitarian mission. Noong gurong unyonista pa lamang siya, madalas na siyang naglilingkod sa mga katutubong komunidad. Nakapag-serbisyo na siya sa mga katutubo ng Cordillera, sa pagbibigay ng school supplies sa mga Mangyan sa Mindoro, naging bahagi rin siya ng relief operations sa mga Aeta nang pumutok ang Mt. Pinatubo. Hindi bago para sa kanya ang mga makataong misyon sa kanayunan.

Gayundin si Ka Satur Ocampo, dating kinatawan ng Bayan Muna na 85 taong gulang na ngayon at mahigit 60 taon nang aktibista. Marami siyang sinamahang mga fact-finding at rescue missions.

Silang dalawa ay kabilang sa 13 na sentensyado sa kasong child abuse sa ilalim ng batas na R.A. 7610 o Anti-Child Abuse Law.

Noong panahon ng rescue mission nila sa Talaingod, Davao del Norte noong Nobyembre 2018 kahit may pakikipag-usap nang ginawa si Ka Satur sa hepe ng pulisya para salubungin ang mga bata at mga guro, hindi napigilan ang pagharang sa kanila ng mga militar. “Under military order” umano at ayon mismo may Ka Satur, may interbensyong ginawa si Duterte at may mandong kasuhan sila.

Photo by Kilab Multimedia

Tunay na Usapin

Ang husga sa kanilang nagkasala sa batas ay isang uri ng miscarriage of justice, ayon na rin kay Ka Satur. Ito ay malinaw na hudisyal na pang-uusig. Isa itong sabwatan ng mga armadong pwersa ng estado, ng lokal na gubyerno at iba pang ahensya nito. Ipinataw mismo ni Duterte ang batas militar sa Talaingod para bigyang-katwiran ang pagwasak sa mga paaralan. At sa pangyayaring hinusgahang maysala sina Ka Satur at Teacher France, nagdiwang ang National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict na matagal nang minimithi ng reaksyunaryong gubyerno kay Ka Satur.

Para kay Ka Satur na ilang beses nang kinasuhan ng murder, multiple murder, kidnapping with serious illegal detention at iba pa ay nalampasan niya ito lahat dahil walang katotohanan ang mga ito. Pero sa pagkakataong ito na sinentensyahan siya, lahat ng sirkunstansya ay nakaturo sa garapal na pagsasabwatan at sistematikong maniobra.

Hindi rin pwedeng tanggalin sa hinala ang galaw ng mga Duterte sa kasong ito at hindi kataka-taka ito para kay Rep. France Castro. Siya ang malakas ang loob na nagkwestyon sa ₱125 milyong confidential fund ni Vice President Sara Duterte na ginasta sa loob ng 11 araw at sa kawalang-silbi nito bilang hepe ng DepEd. Sa pamamagitan din Rep. Castro, naisabatas ang Republic Act 11997 o ang Kabalikat sa Pagtuturo Act na nagtatakda ng pagtaas ng alawans sa pagtuturo mula ₱5,000 tungong ₱10,000.

Nang mag-anunsyo si Rep. France ng maagang kandidatura para tumakbong senador sa eleksyon sa 2025, Buena-manong bala ang kaso ng Talaingod 13 ng rehimeng Marcos Jr. para siraan ang mga patriyotikong mga indibidwal at organisasyon na balak na kumpletuhin ang buong listahan ng mga kandidato para sa Senado sa darating eleksyon sa isang taon na ikinagulat ng reaksyunaryong estado.

Kodao file photo

Mitsa ng Pakikibaka

Ang kaso ng Talaingod 13 ay tagos sa iba’t ibang sektor—mga pambansang minorya, guro, mambabatas, manunulat, kabataang-estudyante. Sumalubong ito sa papalalang krisis sa edukasyon. Lantad ang hindi pantay na timbangan ng hustisya. Sangkot sa sabwatan ang armadong pwersa ng estado, lokal na gubyerno, at iba pang ahensya nito maging ang hudikatura.

Hindi biro ang 216 na paaralang ipinasara at winasak. Kulang ang mga paaralan para sa lumalaking bilang ng mga estudyante sa buong bansa at hindi biro ang paghinto sa pag-aaral ng sampung libong kabataan habang ang mga gurong matyagang nagtuturo ay sinentensyahan sa mga kasong gawa-gawa lamang kasama nina Ka Satur at Rep. France Castro.

Hamon ito sa sambayanan na kitlin ang pananahimik dahil ang mga tunay na naglilingkod sa bayan ay inuusig. Ang edukasyong pinangarap ng Kalumaran ay binura sa listahan ng serbisyong panlipunan sa panahon ni Pangulong Duterte pero nakumpleto sa panahon ng rehimeng Marcos Jr. ang kawalang katarungan.

Kahit anong away sa pulitika ng dalawang nag-uumpugang pulitikong angkang ito, pareho ang pamamaraan nila sa pagsupil sa paglaban ng mamamayan. Nangyari ang kaso ng Talaingod 13 sa Mindanao pero sumambulat ang kawalang-katarungan nito sa Kamaynilaan. Mula rito, magiging mitsa ito pakikibakang masa para sa katarungan sa buong bansa. #

SOS: New Bataan Massacre victims waylaid on Wednesday night, not Thursday as military claims

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The Save Our Schools (SOS) Network revealed more details in the death of two volunteer teachers, a community health worker and their two drivers last week in what human rights groups call the New Bataan Massacre.

SOS said volunteer teachers Chad Booc and Gelejurain Ngujo II, volunteer health worker Elgyn Balonga and their two still unidentified drivers were victims of another massacre of Lumad and their defenders by the military.

The group reported the victims were on their way back to Davao City after a community visit and research work when waylaid by the military.

SOS said the last time anyone has heard from the victims was about 9:30 in the evening of Wednesday, February 23 when Balonga requested her family to come fetch them once they are back in Davao City.

In a public announcement last Friday, the 10th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army said that the five were New People’s Army rebels that engaged them in a 15-minute firefight Thursday, February 24.

The Philippine News Agency report on the military’s announcement did not mention a time of incident.

The SOS however said residents told them that no firefight happened last Thursday, an information confirmed by the Communist Party of the Philippines that said the NPA unit in the area denied such occurrence.

“We strongly assert that the victims were community volunteers and civilians from varying backgrounds, and their murder must merit the strongest condemnation,” SOS said.

Who were they?

Booc’s life as an activist and volunteer teacher in a Lumad school was well-documented in media articles and interviews.

READ: UP cum laude answers call to teach Lumad students

His prominence earned for him red-tagging attacks by government officials and institutions who alleged he was an indoctrinator and recruiter of young Lumad to join the NPA.

He was from a middle class background and a University of the Philippines cum laude graduate with a degree in computer science.

“He turned down a career and life of comfort and became a volunteer teacher. In 2016, he volunteered to be a teacher for ALCADEV in Surigao del Sur,” SOS said.

WATCH: Altermidya interview of Chad Booc

The Bakwit School is the roving program for Lumad students fleeing from the militarization of their communities and the forcible closure of their schools. It had been held in Davao City, Cebu City and Metro Manila and hosted by education institutions, churches and the Commission on Human Rights.

In 2021, Booc was one of the petitioners against the government’s controversial Anti-Terror Law before the Supreme Court.

Like Booc, Nguho was a college graduate who had earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Secondary Education majoring in English from the Liceo de Davao – Briz Campus in Tagum City, Davao del Norte.

“He came from a humble family of farmers and was known for being patient and soft-spoken,” SOS said of the second victim.

Immediately after graduating, Nguho became a teacher at the Community Technical College of Southeastern Mindanao (CTCSM).

After a year, he decided to become a volunteer teacher for the Bakwit School in Manila in 2018, and then in Cebu in 2019 and 2020.

“Like Chad, he was also a recipient of threats and intimidation from state forces for his work as a volunteer Lumad school teacher,” SOS said.

Balonga meanwhile was a community health worker who served at the Lumad sanctuary at the United Church of Christ in the Philippines compound in Davao City from 2013 to 2018.

Balonga facilitated internships by medical students at the sanctuary, SOS.

“Elgyn was active in numerous medical missions in remote areas such as Talaingod and Kapalong, Davao del Norte. She lived a life of service for the Lumad, farmers, and workers,” the group added.

“Throughout their years of service, Chad, Jurain, and Elgyn had been subjected to threats, harassment, intimidation, including death threats, red-tagging and terror-tagging, and surveillance. It is then even more deplorable that the people who take up the initiative to serve in far-flung communities, where the Duterte government cares little to address the needs of its residents, are targeted and killed,” SOS said.

Widespread condemnation

Human rights and activists groups held a condemnation rally at the Commission on Human Rights’ Jose W. Diokno Park in Quezon City last Saturday to condemn the killing of the victims.

SOS Cebu’s indignation rally on the killing of volunteer teachers, a health worker and their two drivers. (SOS Network Cebu photo)

The Cebu chapter of the SOS Network led a similar condemnation rally in the city on Sunday, February 27.

SOS Cebu spokesperson Meg Lim said the New Bataan 5 Massacre was not the first spate of killings of the Lumad and their advocates.

“Through the years, there had been the Lianga Massacre, the Pangantukan Massacre, the brutal killings of Obello Bay-ao and now, the deaths of 5 unarmed civilians, volunteer teachers and valuable members of the Lumad community,” Lim said.

“The AFP is so (bent) to silence the Lumad that it has repeatedly used the same old narrative of an ‘encounter’ to legitimize its brutal killing of innocent civilians in the mere act of service to their communities,” Lim added.

The Cebu rally was attended by Booc’s family, the group reported.

Nikki, Chad’s younger sister, demanded justice for her brother and the other victims’ deaths through a fair, impartial, and thorough investigation of the incident.

The SOS revealed the families have yet to retrieve the victims’ remains, anticipating possible harassment and intimidation from the military.

“We are calling on all IP rights advocates, friends of the victims, the media, and every Filipino to join us and the families of the victims’ as we ensure that they are brought home,” the group said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Tatlong tula para kay Chad Booc

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1. Si Chad at mga Bakwit

Ni Ibarra Banaag

Hininga ang naghihiwalay sa katawang lupa.

Kaluluwa ang nag-uugnay sa diwa at kataga.

Gunita sa himaymay na siyang bulong sa panata.

Tuwing may dugo at luha na dadampi sa madla.

Matamang nangungusap ito sa kamalayan.

Nagsasabing ang buhay ay daluyan lamang.

Kasangkapan ng karunungan at pagmamahal.

Sukdang pumikit ang mata at ito’y mabuwal.

Sino bang tunay na magbibigay ng paghanga.

Di ba’t yaong mga Lumad na pinaglingkuran nila.

Patotoong mababakas sa hinagpis at palahaw,

Kundi pisnging binasa ng dusa at pusong naulila.

Tulad nila ay kislap ng batis sa silong ng buwan.

Bulalakaw sa hinaing at pangarap ng nanibugho.

Ilog na tumatalunton sa malawak na karagatan.

Puno na nagbibigay ng pananalig at kanlungan.

Balabal-ritwal at kasuutan ng mga katutubo.

Awit, sayaw, huni at galaw ng mga ninuno,

Dayuhang narahuyo sa diwatang sinusuyo.

Tadhanang naghatid ng pag-ibig at pagsuyo.

Hindi ka namin ililibing kagaya ng ‘yong hiling,

Kasama ng apat pa, binhi kang sa lupa ikakalat.

Sa lupang pangako kawangis mo’y didiligin

Ng sumibol at yumabong adhikain na hangad.

— Pebrero 26, 2022

2. Hindi lumuluha ang demonyo

(Hinggil sa ‘No tears for terrorists’ ni Dr. Lorraine T. Badoy)

Ni Marlou Abaja

Walang balon ng awa

Walang batis ng malasakit at hinagpis

Walang bukal ng buhay ang katawan

Ng demonyong nagbabalatkayong tao

Walang aagos na luha ng dalamhati

Walang luha ang demonyo

Tinuyo ng apoy ang bawat patak

Bagkus ay pagdiwang sa itim niyang budhi ang nangingibabaw

Sa pagpanaw ng pinaslang na bayani

Walang luha ang demonyo

Kundi galak na hindi makatao.

3. Titser Chad

Ni Raymund B. Villanueva

Pauwi pa lamang mula sa rali–

nag-kober at sumali–

nang malaman ang masamang balita

mula sa lalawigan ng ginto’t dugo

Ayaw munang maniwala

Bakit ba? Napakasama

nakakapanghina

Ngunit possible, bakit hindi?

Madalas talagang maging martir

ang mga dati nang bayani

Adya yata, sa UP ako dumaan pag-uwi

(Bilin ng asawa’y bumili ng lupa sa maghahalaman

sa C5.) Pagliko kanina sa University Avenue

lumingon sa kanan at tinanaw hanggang dulo

ang istatwang dipa’t tingala.

Sa ngayong naluluhang mata

dahil sa iyo, Titser Chad,

si Oble’y tumangkad pa yata.

–3:01 n.h.

25 Pebrero 2022

Lungsod Quezon

‘Chad Booc and 4 others were massacred’ – Save Our Schools Network

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It was a massacre that killed a celebrated volunteer teacher and four others in Davao de Oro last Thursday, an indigenous peoples’ organization said.

The Save Our Schools (SOS) Network said the February 24 incident that resulted in the death of University of the Philippines (UP) cum laude graduate Chad Booc, fellow volunteer teacher Gelejurain Ngujo II and three others was “in fact a massacre of civilians.”

In confirming the death of one of its two volunteer teachers, the SOS said Barangay Andap, New Bataan residents confirmed to them that no clash happened between the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the New People’s Army (NPA) at the reported time of the incident.

“And in its attempt to justify these gruesome killings, the armed forces once again twist the truth to play into their narrative as they have done many times before,” SOS said.

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) echoed the group’s report, saying the AFP’s “encounter” claim is an outright lie.

“There was no encounter in New Bataan, Davao de Oro, yesterday (Thursday), where the AFP claims it killed activist Chad Booc and four others. This was confirmed to us by the local NPA unit in the area,” CPP information officer Marco Valbuena tweeted.

“Indeed, the AFP’s ‘killed in an encounter’ story line has repeatedly been used in the past to cover up the cold-blooded murder of civilians or unarmed people. We urge their family and friends to uncover the facts surrounding their deaths and demand justice for their murders,” Valbuena added.

The 1001st Infantry Brigade of the Philippine Army (PA) claimed it engaged alleged NPA rebels in a 15-minute gunfight that resulted in the death of Booc, Nguho, an alias Daday and two unidentified others.

PA 10th Infantry Division public affairs office chief Captain Mark Anthony S. Tito further claimed government soldiers recovered one M653 rifle, one caliber .45 pistol, one hand grenade, one anti-personnel mine, assorted food supplies, and personal belongings from the victims.

The AFP also publicly released photos of the victims laying bloodied and dead on the ground, a move condemned by the SOS.

“To add insult to injury, the 1001st Infantry Brigade of the AFP has paraded the bodies of the deceased as war trophies. Even to the extent of planting guns and ammunition on the bodies to make it out as if they were combatants who shot at the AFP,” the group said.

“Photos of the deceased are supposed to be taken for the sole purpose of documentation, not as trophies released and paraded without the consent of the families… a testament to the AFP’s disrespect and non-adherence to the CARHRIHL (Comprehensive Agreement on the Respect of Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law),” SOS added, referring to the document signed by the Manila government with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines in 1998.

Booc last figured in the news in 2021 when he was arrested in Cebu City after being accused by the military of kidnapping Lumad children and indoctrinating them to take up arms against the Philippine government.

‘Teacher Chad’ forging one of his countless rivers and streams on the way to a Lumad community. (Photo from Chad’s FB account)

Booc however is celebrated in various articles as well as in campaigns for his release as a selfless people’s scholar who chose to dedicate his life to the service of indigenous peoples’ communities.

A cum laude graduate of the University of the Philippines with a degree in computer science, Booc worked full time as a volunteer teacher for Lumad schools in Mindanao. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

‘Ibigay ang hustisya sa mga biktima ng dahas at iligal na pag-aresto’

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“Hiling namin sa Kongreso na ibigay ang hustisya sa mga bata, datu at guro na biktima ng dahas at iligal na pag-aresto. Panagutin ang PRO 7, militar, DSWD 7 at iba pang ahensya sa patuloy na pagdetine sa 18 mga mag-aaral na lumad at buwagin ang NTF-ELCAC.” — Rius Valle, Tagapagsalita, Save Our Schools Network

‘State terrorism ito laban sa mga batang Pilipino’

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“Sinasabi po nila (pulis) na itong mga bata (estudyanteng Lumad) ay ni rescue. State terrorism po ito laban sa mga batang Pilipino… Dahil sa track record ng Pamahalaang Duterte, kailanman hindi ito naging kakampi ng kabataang Pilipino. [Kaya naman] hindi po tayo makapapayag na magpatuloy ang ganitong pang-aabuso laban sa karapatan ng mga bata.” — Kim Viznar, Children’s Rehabilitation Center

Priests deny police story: ‘USC Lumad needed no rescuing’

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Priests hosting Lumad students and elders denied the police operation inside a Catholic-run university in Cebu City Monday morning was a rescue mission.

Societas Verbi Divini (SVD) Philippines Southern Province Provincial Fr. Rogelio Bag-ao, SVD and University of San Carlos (USC) President Fr. Narciso Cellan Jr, SVD said they are seriously concerned and surprised that the police alleged the incident was a rescue operation.

“[It] came as a surprise that reports about minors being ‘rescued’ surfaced today. While COSA (Cebu-Commission on Social Advocacies) mentioned that some parents were coming over to fetch their children, it did not dawn on us that the parents’ visit will necessitate the presence of policemen,” the priests in a joint statement said.

Bag-ao and Cellan denied the 24 Lumad as well as two volunteer teachers forcibly hauled from a retreat house inside USC’s Talamban campus to a police camp needed rescuing.

“Here, no rescue need ever be conducted because the presence of the lumads in the retreat house was for their welfare and well-being, and all throughout, they were nurtured, cared for, and treated with their best interest in mind,” they said.

Both explained that their hosting of the Lumad was in support of the bakwit (refugee) school program of the Save Our School’s (SOS) Network, along with Archdiocese of Cebu’s COSA.

President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered the closure and destruction of indigenous peoples’ schools since 2017, forcing hundreds of their students as well as their teachers to seek refuge in Metro Manila, Cebu and Davao cities.

The priests pointed out that the four other schools within the archdiocese have hosted as many as 42 Lumad students, five teachers and three community elders (Datu) in the past two years.

The refugees were welcomed at USC-Talamban on May 11, 2020 where they were supposed to complete their modular schooling on April 3, 2020 after which, they would have returned to their respective indigenous communities.

The Lumad were forced to extend their stay since the Cebu City government imposed travel restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic, the priests said.

“After being locked down, the SVD Community has since sheltered the delegation at its retreat house, providing them with comfortable accommodation, and allowing them the use of its facilities for the lumad’s recreation,” Bag-ao and Cellan narrated.

The priests said that four of the delegates have since returned home after quarantine restrictions have loosened while more are scheduled to leave this week.

In videos and photos posted on social media platforms, the Lumad students were shown to have been roughly treated by the police during its operation Monday.

WATCH SOS’ LIVE VIDEO OF THE INCIDENT HERE.

Some were strangled from behind while some were handcuffed as they were hauled to the regional police camp.

‘NPA training inside a Catholic university’

In its News Brief No. 21-0261, the Philippine National Police (PNP) in Central Visayas bragged it rescued the minors from a “child warrior training” inside the university.

“Twenty-one Lumad children were reunited with their parents two years after they were ‘recruited’ by community organizers in Davao del Norte and brought to Cebu City to undergo revolutionary training as future armed combatants,” the police said.

PNP chief Debold Sinas further alleged that the Lumad children belonged to a New People’s Army front based in Talaingod, Davao del Norte.

“Police Regional Office 7 investigators are eyeing serious illegal detention, human trafficking, and violations of RA 9851 (IHL Act) and RA 11188 (Special Protection of Children in Situations of Armed Conflict) charges against the arrested suspects,” the PNP added.

The police has yet to allow human rights lawyers to meet with the detainees, a full day after the arrests.

Lumad school children call for the release of those arrested in Cebu at a rally in Quezon City. (Photo by Jo Maline Mamangun/Kodao)

Demands for immediate release

The SOS in Cebu meanwhile called for the immediate release of the detained Lumad and their teachers, denying the students were coerced.

“The parents of the students provided authorization to the volunteer teachers to allow their children to join the Bakwit School. It is also the decision of the students themselves to take part in the Bakwit School,” SOS-Cebu said in a statement.

The group recalled the refugee schools hosted by schools and churches across the country were in response to the closure of 176 indigenous peoples’ school across Mindanao upon Duterte’s orders.

“It is then ironic for the police to claim to ‘rescue’ the Lumad when it is a truth that is widely known that it is the state forces that continuously harass and red-tag them. It is state forces themselves that continue to harm the Lumad,” SOS-Cebu said.

In Quezon City, the SOS Bakwit School at the University of the Philippines in Diliman led an indignation rally in front of the Commission on Human Rights along with indigenous peoples’ rights advocates Monday afternoon. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

1st Manobo in Congress vows to defend Lumad schools, national minorities’ rights over ancestral lands

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The member of the 18th Congress who probably has the least formal education took to the floor of the House of Representatives last Monday, July 29, visibly nervous but delivered the most powerful speech of the night nonetheless.

Neophyte representative Eufemia Cullamat of Bayan Muna delivered her first privileged speech, vowed to defend the Lumad schools that are under attack by government forces, and called for the respect of the indigenous peoples’ right to self-determination over their ancestral domains.

Cullamat apologized for what she feared may be mispronounced words, but she soon hit her stride and passionately delivered her seven-page speech.

“I admit I am one of the very few members in this hall who may have only finished elementary education and finds it difficult to understand English words or read them. I am living proof of the government’s failure to provide education for everyone because the nearest school from where I live is 20 kilometers away,” Cullamat said in Filipino.

A member of the Manobo tribe from the mountains of Barangay Diatogon in Lianga, Surigao del Sur, Ka Femia railed against the attacks on Lumad schools she helped build. She recalled how she witnessed the murder of her cousin Dionel Campos, her uncle Datu Jovillo Sinzo, and Alternative Learning Center for Agricultural and Livelihood Development’s (Alcadev’s) executive director Emerito Samarca on September 1, 2015.

“I was shaking, prone on the ground, while the soldiers and the paramilitary peppered us non-stop with bullets. I clearly saw how Dionel was ordered to lie on the ground by a paramilitary. I clearly saw how his brain splattered when he was shot,” Cullamat said.

“I embraced Dionel’s children as they wailed over their father’s lifeless and violated body.  I saw one of our elders, Datu Bello, bludgeoned several times that caused fractures on his legs and arms,” Cullamat added.

She also narrated how she saw Alcadev’s principal Samarca lying in one of the classrooms, his lifeless body bearing signs of torture. “His body was riddled with bullets, full of cigarette burns and his throat slashed,” she narrated.

Cullamat said the massacre was one incident that shows how the government regards the Lumad’s struggle to establish indigenous peoples’ schools.

“What pains me, Mr. Speaker, is that these horrible attacks are still being perpetrated in our schools, against our teachers, against our children. Not only do they destroy our schools, they file trumped-up charges against our teachers and supporters; they also imprison them,” she said.

“They disrespect, they burn the schools we sacrifice so much to put up,” she added, her voice breaking in pent-up rage.

Cullamat raises fist in tribute to those who sacrificed their lives for the national minority groups. (Screengrab from HOR live feed)

Cullamat said that for many decades, the national minority had been deprived of basic social services, including education. She said they have been victimized by their lack of education, as well as the difficulty in obtaining them on the flatlands.

But the massacre goes beyond the government’s false accusations that the Lumad schools are disguised New People’s Army (NPA) training and recruitment grounds, Ka Femia said.

“That massacre was clearly meant to intimidate us into allowing coal mining in our ancestral lands. As a paramilitary trooper once said, ‘it would not have happened if we allowed mining,'” she said. But the Lumad of Diatogon have long decided to defend their land from environmental plunder, a decision that has cost them many lives and the existence of their beloved schools.

Cullamat said 15 coal mining, as well as palm oil plantation companies, are salivating over 200,000 hectares inside Lumad-Manobo communities in the Andap Valley Complex in Surigao del Sur.

Still, Cullamat said, they will fight for their schools. She said they persevered in establishing them and succeeded through blood, sweat, and tears and with the help of the church and non-government organizations. The schools taught them to read, write, and count.

“Because of these schools, our children are being educated in ways that are respectful of our traditions, culture, and our need to improve our lives, especially through agriculture so that we may prosper while we protect our ancestral domains for future generations,” she explained.

Cullamat also cited that many graduates of their Lumad schools have gone on to earn college degrees and have gone back to their communities as teachers, agriculturists, health workers and organizers. They have also become trusted advisers to their tribal leaders.

She added that her children studied in the Lumad schools and taught her and other adults in their communities to read and understand Filipino. “My dear colleagues, I now stand before you, speaking in Filipino, because of these Lumad schools,” she said.

The success of the schools in educating the Lumad have made them targets of harassments and attacks, the neophyte legislator said. She cited the recent decision of the Department of Education to suspend the permits of 55 Salugpongan Ta’tanu Igkanugon Learning Center schools in Davao upon the prodding of national security adviser Hermogenes Esperon.

“Esperon accuses the Salugpungan schools of training Lumad children to become New People’s Army guerrillas and how to shoot or dismantle guns, as he accuses other schools run by the Clans (Center for Lumad Advocacy Networking and Services), Misfi (Mindanao Interfaith Services Foundation, Inc.), Trifpss (Tribal Filipino Program of Surigao del Sur), and Alcadev. All these are lies that are only meant to close down our schools and shut down our national minority organizations,” she cried, her voice rising in anger.

As an indigenous person member of Congress, Cullamat said she must report to Congress that the attacks against the national minority do not only happen in Mindanao. She said the Dumagats who oppose the mega-dam projects in Quezon and the Igorots who with the Chico River Irrigation Pump Project in the Cordilleras are also under attack.

“In spite of all these, the national minority would persevere in defense of our ancestral lands, the source of our life and livelihood,” she vowed.

“We will persevere in defending our schools for the education of our children. We will persevere in our quest for justice for the victims of human rights violations,” she added. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Pagpapasara sa 55 Lumad Schools, binatikos

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Sumugod sa opisina ng Department of Education (DepEd) Central Office sa Pasig City noong Hulyo 17 ang mga progresibong grupo para batikusin ang desisyon ng ahensiya sa ginawa nitong suspensyon sa 55 kampus ng Salugpongan Ta’ Tanu Igkanogon Community Learning Schools sa Southern Mindanao.

Ayon sa Save Our Schools (SOS) Network, malinaw na hindi suspensyon ang layunin ng DepEd kundi tuluyang pagpapasara sa mga nasabing eskwelahan.

Mababaw umano ang basehan ni DepEd Secretary Leonor Briones na suspensyon at batay lamang sa salaysay ni National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr.

Dagdag pa ng SOS Network, ginagawang lehitimo lamang ng DepEd ang walang humpay na pag-atake ng AFP sa mga eskwelahan ng Lumad.

Marami na anilang paaralang Lumad ang pwersahang ipinasara ng militar sa mahigit dalawang taon ng martial law sa Mindanao. (Music: News Background Bidyo ni: Joseph Cuevas/ Kodao)

Seremonya ng Pagtatapos ng Lumad Bakwit School sa UP 2019

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Sa kauna-unahang pagkakataon, isang Moving Up Ceremony ng Lumad Bakwit School ang ginanap sa University of the Philippines Integrated School Auditorium noong Marso 29, 2019.

Ang natatanging seremonya ay may temang “Lumad Bakwit: Patatagin ang Hanay, Mag-aral at Sumulong, Ipaglaban ang Lupa at Kinabukasan”. Umabot sa 70 estudyanteng Lumad ang pinarangalan kung saan 30 dito ay nagtapos ng junior high school.

Ipinakita nila na purisgido silang makatapos ng pag-aaral at ipaglaban ang kanilang karapatan, lalo na sa pagtatanggol ang kanilang lupang ninuno.

Pinasalamatan nila ang iba’t-ibang mga institusyon, simbahan, unibersidad at paaralan na tumulong sa kanila sa Metro Manila at karatig-probinsya na tumulong upang matagumpay nilang maitawid ang isang academic school year .

Sa kabila ito nang matinding atake sa kanilang paaralan kung saan 85 paaralang Lumad na may halos 3,000 mag-aaral, guro at mga magulang sa iba’t-ibang bahagi ng Mindanao ang pwersahang pinasara ng mga militar at paramilitar dahil sa walang tigil na militarisasyon.

Tumitindi din ang paglabag sa karapatang pantao katulad nang paghuli sa kanilang mga guro, pagpatay sa kanilang mga lider-katutubo at umiiral na Martial Law sa Mindanao. (Bidyo nila: Joseph Cuevas at Maricon Montajes)