PRESS RELEASE
August 16, 2007

LUMAD LEADERS’ HOLD RITUAL TO DRIVE AWAY EVIL SPIRITS IN THE ARMED FORCES


References:
Norma Capuyan
PASAKA Council Member
& Chairperson, ASLPC
( Apo Sandawa
Lumad Peoples of Cotobato)

Media Desk: Look for May


To mark their condemnation of the Arroyo government’s militarization policies, about 18 lumad leaders from different tribes in Southern and Central Mindanao will troop to Camp Panacan today.

In a Manobo ritual called “panubad-tubad,” lumad leaders called on the good spirits of the Mamanwa, the Manobo god or creator to guard the ranks of lumad leaders and support groups who are facing threats of militarism from the “evil spirits” reigning in the armed forces.

“No less than the military perpetrate the worst kinds of human rights abuses against the lumads. In Southern Mindanao alone, 22 are documented victims of summary executions. More than 5,000 are victims of forcible displacement due to military operations and/or encampment in lumad communities from 2001 to 2007 alone,” protested Norma Capuyan, PASAKA Council Member and Apo Sandawa Lumad Peoples of Cotobato (ASLPC) Chairperson.

In the ritual, a white egg, covered with rice grains, and one peso coin was put in the center of a woven basket which rests on a long bamboo pole. In the basket, the egg was surrounded by “mama” leaves on top of which pieces of apog were placed.

According to Datu Maylan Andas, a Manobo datu from MAPA – Magpet organization in North Cotobato , the white egg symbolizes the truth in the lumad leaders’ protests. Datu Budjak Manajag from the SALUGPONGAN Ata-Manobo organization also said, it represents the peoples’ freedom from the current plight of repression, like how a chick is liberated from its shells upon its birth.

Capuyan denounced the Oplan Bantay Laya I and II counter-insurgency plans of the Arroyo government wherein lumad communities are directly affected.

“Lumad communities such as those in Arakan, Magpet, Antipas, Makilala, Tulunan, Colombio, Sultan Kudarat and Kitaotao, Bukidnon are cordoned by military camps and detachments of the 4th IB, 8th IB, 25th IB, 26th IB, 39th IB,40th IB, 72nd IB, 73rd IB. This is terror blatantly committed by the government against the people it should protect,” the Tagbanua leader said.

She also recounted that on March 8 to 14, 2007, a series of aerial bombings sowed terror among the Ata Manobo lumads of Talaingod Davao Del Norte. During these military operations led by the 73rd Infantry Battalion and the paramilitary group Alamara, three Ata-Manobo minors were injured while 1,008 lumads from Sitios Inaloy, Lasakan, Nalubas, Saso, and Agoo were forcibly displaced.

Capuyan also said that as the Arroyo government pursues its war on terror drive, lumads are recruited in CAFGUs and paramilitary groups, causing divisiveness within the lumads.

“In GMA’s all out war, lumads are made to point guns at their own fellow lumads. Paramilitary groups are formed such as the ALAMARA and the BAGANI forces as the military’s frontliners or pawns in their terroristic war,” decried Capuyan.

The lumad leaders also denounced the Human Security Act, a law that they say will aggravate their human rights situation.

“Through the HSA, the Arroyo government is legitimizing the perpetration of human rights abuses against those who merely have their words and principles as weapons to fight for justice, peace and genuine development,” Capuyan said.
This protest concludes the PASAKA Confederation of Lumad Organizations in Southern Mindanao Council Meeting, which was held from August 13 -15 and wherein problems and the consequent lumad peoples’ actions on militarization and development aggression were tackled. #