MEDIA RELEASE


IN CELEBRATION OF THE TRIBAL FILIPINO WEEK

Indigenous People & Advocates Form KATRIBU PARYTLIST


DAVAO CITY-- Land, Life,and Rights. These were the words significant for the indigenous people and advocates who were gathered today (Oct. 9) to launch the newly-formed partylist group KATRIBU. The launching was also timed for the annual observance of the Tribal Filipino Week.


"Amidst the threats to our ancestral lands brought by development aggression and relentless militarization, the danger of climate change due to the plunder of our land and resources, and the obliteration of our identity, our calls to defend our land, life and rights are more urgent than ever," said Kerlan Fanagel, Katribu Partylist Regional Coordinator.


The launching was held at the Salugpongan Hall, UCCP- HARAN, Fr. Selga St., Davao City and attended by some 50 members and supporters. The Katribu Partylist was formed in Metro Manila last August 9, 2008.


The Katribu sees its entry into the mainstream politics as a venue to promote the interest of the IPs through legislative reforms and campaigns.


Fanagel noted that "With the multi-national corporations' greed to loot our lands with their so-called development projects, We Lumads have been displaced and have become squatters in our own land. Projects such as mining, dams, plantations for jathropa, bananas, palm oil, coconuts and pineapple, have only favored the elite and the foreign big businesses."


He also said that "twin to the so-called development is the militarization of our communities." Intensified military operations in the hinterland communities is abetted with the Investment Defense Force and the National Internal Security Program for Indigenous Peoples.


Militarization has resulted to displacement, harassments, threats, forced recruitment for Task Force Gantangan, and physical assault. The worst is the extra-judicial killing Lumads leaders namely Ludenio Monzon and Marcial Latiban of Davao Oriental, Agustin Cumawas in North Cotabato, Datu Dominador Diarog of Kahusayan, Tugbok District, and Datu Aladino Badbaran of Agusan del Sur.


"Instead of protecting the welfare of the indigenous peoples, the Arroyo government has sold our patrimony through the implementation of the Mining Act of 1995 and the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA)," Katribu lamented.


The groups also said that Lumads continue to fall prey to discrimination and are deprived of the much-needed social services by the state.


"Thus, we in KATRIBU Partylist are emboldened to carry on this urgent call to protect our communities, our rights, our resources and patrimony for the welfare of the Lumads and the nation. We carry on this legacy of the indigenous people to defend our ancestral land and the right to self-determination. Furthermore, we believe it is time to put our stake in the political arena, by asserting our rights and voice in the party-list system," Katribu said in their yesterday's declaration.


The Katribu also declared that: "On this significant occasion, we in KATRIBU Partylist strive to unite our collective voice, to pursue our long dream of a just society where the rights of the indigenous peoples along with other basic sectors are realized to the fullest.


We shall draw from the support of our communities, along with those in solidarity with the Lumads and environment, to push for reforms to serve the interests and protect the rights of the poor and marginalized sectors. With that, we particularly call for ways to stop the plunder of our resources, ask for the repeal of laws that tolerate this plunder, and seek repatriation to communities that have been damaged by these activities.


For the defense of our rights, we shall pursue all avenues to attain justice to victims of militarization, especially here in Southern Mindanao where the 10th Infantry Division of the AFP has wreaked havoc to our communities with the implementation of Oplan Bantay Laya 2 and the NISP-IP. We call for the pull out of military troops in communities, and an end to forced recruitment of Lumads to paramilitary forces.


We shall unite the Lumads and other sectors with similar ideals of promoting the rights and welfare of the marginalized. This is a great and formidable task for the indigenous peoples, but we believe that in our unity comes the strength to take on this challenge, guided by our history of struggle and the vision of a just society for us all." ###


For Reference:


KERLAN FANAGEL
Regional Coordinator
Katribu Partylist



DULPING OGAN
National Vice Chairperson
Katribu Partylist

September 26, 2009
PRESS RELEASE

IP partylist group slams Suerte for lying; reiterates call for troops pull-out in Talaingod

DAVAO CITY - Lying through his teeth is how Katribu Partylist describes Colonel Lysander Suerte of the 10th Infantry Division (10th ID) of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). The group strongly believes that Suerte's response regarding the recent cases filed by Lumads before the Commission on Human Rights was merely an attempt to conceal the real score in Talaingod, Davao del Norte.

Last week, Ata-Manobo datus from Salugpungan ta tanu Igkanugon pointed to soldiers of the 60th Infantry Batallion stationed in Talaingod as perpetrators of the series of human rights violations.

“Eversince the creation of the 10th ID, military troops in Davao region have been on rampage and have continuously committed massive rights violations against the hapless Lumads and farmers. The mere existence of their troops within the civilian populace is already a violation as it poses danger to the community,” Katribu Party list Regional Coordinator Kerlan Fanagel said.

“Col. Suerte's declaration that more than half of the New People's Army rebels are Lumads only show his twisted perception and the state's discrimination against the indigenous people. The military troops attempt to rule Lumad communities in a climate of impunity,” Fanagel added.

Despite the demands made by the Salugpungan for the 60th IB to pull-out from the area, the soldiers continued to conduct counter-insurgency operations and disrupt the farming activities of the Lumads in such farflung hinterland villages,” Fanagel added. At least 28 lumads have died of sickness and hunger. Ata-Manobo residents could no longer harvest their crops since military troops prevent them from going to their farms.

“Daghan nang mga humay namo ang nangadaot ug di na gyud namo ma-ani tungod kay mahadlok man gyud mi sa mga bahad sa mga military. Usahay na lang gani mi makakaon og bugas ug karon nga ting ani, wa pa gyud mi naka sanggi, daghan kanamo ang nangagutom, daghan naman gani ang namatay sa sakit, sayang gyud ang among hago nga naadto lang sa wala, mao nang kusog ming nanawagan nga unta manghawa na sa among komunidad ang mga military.” (There were many rice crops which have gone to waste and we can no longer harvest out of frear from the military. We were not able to harvest, despite the fact that many of us are hungry. That's why we strongly call for their pull out), Datu Sumpo Taosan of Talaingod said.

For reference:


KERLAN FANAGEL
Regional Coordinator
KATRIBU Partylist

Mission Statement
Fact Finding Mission in Sitio Dulyan, Talaingod, Davao del Norte
September 15-16, 2009

We, Lumad and peace advocates, human rights advocates, students, and health professionals, church people, condemn the acts of harassment and intimidation we have been subject to by the military soldiers of the 60th Infantry Battalion led by Lt. Dennis Ayungo during the Fact Finding Mission held in Sitio Dulyan, Brgy. Palma Gil, Talaingod, Davao del Norte on September 15, 2008.

The said military elements interrupted and attempted to join the fact finding mission, and in the process, caused fear and intimidation from among the Lumad residents. The military willfully prevented civilian participants to the FFM from freely relaying the real conditions in the area, particularly as regards to the continued military encampment in their community.

Moreover, the military intentionally held and/or detained the mission team for three hours delaying the team’s departure from the area. Military soldiers accosted the drivers who were supposed to bring the mission team back to the town center on the pretext that the drivers did not have licenses.

The team was only allowed to leave after the soldiers found out that the incident was being aired at a local radio station and that several media people have already been alerted regarding the said incident.

This experience has only further encouraged the fact finding mission team to expose the atrocities committed by the 60th Infantry Battalion against the Ata-manobo communities in Talaingod which started since last July.

The mission team thus presents here the objectives and findings of the fact finding mission.

Objectives of the Fact Finding Mission

The fact-finding mission team consisting of lumad, peace and human rights advocates was formed in response to the recent reports reaching the PASAKA Confederation of Lumad Organizations and Solidarity Action Group for Indigenous Peoples office regarding the human rights violations being perpetrated by the military in various villages in Talaingod.

The invitation from Salupongan ta Tanu Igkanugon (local lumad organization) to attend the B’walawan Festival on September 15, 2009 was an opportune time to hold the fact-finding mission.


Findings of the Mission Team:

While the Mission Team was in Sitio Dulyan, in Brgy. Palma Gil, Talaingod, we have witnessed the ill effects of the counter-insurgency operations perpetrated by the 60th Infantry Battalion led by Lt. Dennis Ayungo under the 10th Infantry Division of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

The gravity of the militarization in the impoverished communities of the Ata Manobo tribes have been documented. Testimonies from the residents of Sitio Dulyan and of the five tribal leaders from other communities also reveal the following:

1. Hamletting of civilian communities.
Around 22 elements of the 60th IB have been encamping right within the villages of
Sitio Dulyan, Brgy Sto.Nino.

Meanwhile military troops in a Re-engineered Special Operations team (RSOT) who now call themselves as Community Assistance Development (CAD) team under the 60th IB have also encamped within Sitios Banwalay, Bagang, Laboo, Laslasakan, Bugni, Sambolongan, and Nasilaban in Brgy. Palma Gil, Talaingod.

For over a month now, the Ata-Manobos have been suffering from destruction of properties, violation of domicile, illegal search, coercion, harassment, intimidation, threats and curtailment of fundamental civil and political rights to free movement, free association and free speech of civilians in the aforementioned affected areas.

2. Violation on the rights of children in the context of military encampment in schools:

The continued forcible dislocation and trauma wrought by the intermittent militarization of their communities caused the children emotional and psychological trauma.

Their schooling has stopped as the military insists on encamping right within their school grounds/premises and their parents witnessed how the military destroyed the crops and fences of their community farm.

The military soldiers led by Lt. Dennis Ayungo and Sgt. Christopher Oliveros have been going house to house in the community telling the the lumads not to send their children in Salupongan Ta Tanu Igkanugon Community Learning Center and the said military soldiers accused that the teachers as fakes and communists.

The military soldiers have also been intervening in the activities of the school and they launched their own activities and forced the people to join such as forcing the lumad residents to build the military's makeshift puroks and CR.

3. Harassment of community - based lumad teachers:

The teachers of Salupongan Ta Tanu Igkanugon Learning Center, the only functioning school in the area, also expressed their fears about the continued use of their school premises for military purposes since the military started the militarization of Talaingod on August 15, 2009.

The teachers were constantly being intimidated and harassed by the soldiers led by Sgt. Chirstopher Oliveros. They testified how they are constantly interrogated and their credibility is questioned.

4. Forced recruitment of villagers into paramilitary groups, CVO’s and CAFGU’s

The glaring impact of forced recruitment by the military of Talaingod residents into the Barangay Defense System (BDS), CVO or Bagani Force is the disruption of their economic livelihood. Hunger is stalking Lumad communities. On the whole, the military has taken over and transformed the lumad area as a military garrison undermining civilian supremacy in this 5th class municipality.

Conclusion:

Aggravating the ill-effects of the relentless militarization and the human rights violations is the fact that law enforcement, local government unit and prosecution institutions remain largely inutile and are a failure in the attainment of justice for the victims.

The harassment and the attempts to discredit the credibility of the Mission Team in the area last Tuesday September 15 was a glaring indication of how armed elements such as the 60th IB of the 10th ID try to rule remote civilian areas such as Talaingod under a climate of impunity, supplanting local civilian authorities.

Apparently, the latest RSOT or CAD operations of the 60th IB in Dulyan and the other communities in Talaingod is designed to dismantle the Salugpungan Ta Tanu Igkanugon which has over the last decade remained strong in its stand against the influx of aggressive capitalist incursions in their ancestral land.

The hardline positioning of Salugpungan against so-called development projects is being undermined through massive psychological warfare and intelligence building in the area.

Despite the LGU and the NCIP’s pronouncement that they oppose encroachment by big plantations in Talaingod, the presence of the military forces in the area is enough proof that the state is dead-set in pursuing the project in the area--in Salugpungan’s history, military operations preceded the IFMA project in Talaingod.

Recent reports have shown that an estimated 40,000 hectares of land in Talaingod, Davao del Norte has been proposed to be the site of the needed expansion of coffee plantations in the country. In fact, a Memorandum of Agreement between the government and the Nestle Philippines, Inc. in terms of coffee production had already been signed two months ago.

Moreover, the RSOT or CAD operations which fall within the framework of the “hamletting” program of the US-Southern Vietnam military strategy, intend to force and intimidate residents to participate in the military’s counter insurgency operations; restrict their economic and political mobility, entice lumad leaders who are facing false charges to surrender; and recruit paramilitary forces from among the residents.

The RSOT operations wreaked havoc on the lives of the civilians and has apparently turned communities as shields in the military’s proxy war.

Evidently, the military troops operating in Sitio Dulyan and in other villages in Brgy. Palma Gil, Talaingod violated the following provisions of the Geneva Conventions and other international humanitarian law:

- Protocol II, Part IV, Article 13 which provides that “The civilian population and individual civilians shall enjoy general protection against the dangers arising from military operations.”

- Part IV Article 12 of the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Laws (CARHRIHL) which cites that “Civilian population shall have the right to be protected against the risks and dangers posed by the presence of military camps in urban centers and other populated areas.”

- The on-going hamletting of the 60th IB in Talaingod is a clear violation of the basic rights of the indigenous people especially their rights to self-determination and ancestral domain.

In the guise of counter-insurgency operations, the military attempts to weaken the unity of the Ata-Manobos. The military tries to reinvent itself by initiating the implementation of projects that are supposedly civilian in nature. Harassment, grave threats and coercion through the pulong-pulong (meetings) belie military’s claim that there were no human rights violations committed in the area.

We are deeply concerned that as the military elements under the 60th IB continue to stay right within the civilian populace in Talaingod in the course of their counter-insurgency operations, more Lumad civilians will be victimized and more cases of human rights abuses will continue.

In view of the foregoing, the team has come up with the following recommendations:

a. Immediate withdrawal of AFP troops specifically the 60th Infantry battalion led by Lt. Dennis Ayungo and Sgt. Oliveros in the affected villages of Talaingod Davao del Norte, most especially in civilian-populated areas, public places and other structures manned by civilian authorities.

b. Stop the encroachment of Nestle Philippines in the ancestral domain of the Ata-Manobos

c. Creation of credible investigative bodies to look into the human rights violation cases against the Ata-Manobo lumads, including the extra-judicial killings of Kapis Butod.

d. Stop the recruitment of the BDS, CVO and Bagani Forces and dismantle their structures.

e. Stop the vilification campaign against leaders and members of Salupongan Ta Tanu Igkanugon and other legal peoples' organizations.

f. Immediate implementation of the planned on-site investigation by the Municipal and Provincial Local Government Unit and Commission on Human Rights on the human rights violations committed against the Ata Manobo civilians in Talaingod.###

For Reference:

MEL ELIO
Chairperson- PASAKA Confederation of Lumad Organizations in Southern Mindanao

KERLAN FANAGEL
Regional Coordinator- KATRIBU Partylist

DULPING OGAN
Secretary General- Kusog sa Katawhang Lumad sa Mindanao (KALUMARAN)

DATU DOLOMAN DAWSAY
Spokesperson- Salupongan Ta Tanu Igkanugon
Sitio Dulyan Tribal Chieftain

PRESS RELEASE
August 17, 2009

LUMADS MARK WORLD'S IP MONTH WITH PROTEST ACTIONS AGAINST MILITARIZATION

In commemoration of the World's Indigenous Peoples' Month as declared by the United Nations, lumad leaders representing various tribes in Southern Mindanao came together in a 3-day PASAKA Council meeting and discuss the recent plight of the lumads in the region and reaffirm their vows to continue the lumad struggle for the rights to ancestral lands and to self-determination. “As part of our culmination activity in commemorating IP month, we are conducting protest actions in the form of picket rally to register our call to stop killing lumads and stop militarization in lumad areas,” PASAKA Secretary General Kerla Fanagel said.

On top of the demands and recommendations crafted by the PASAKA council is the immediate pull-out of the military troops holding massive military operations which resulted to massive human rights violations against the lumad civilians in Paquibato in Davao City, Talaingod in Davao del Norte, Laak and Monkayo in Compostela Valley and in the towns of Lupon, Baganga, Cateel, Boston in Davao Oriental and Lianga Surigao Del Sur.

“Lumad communities in Southern Mindanao and its neighboring regions is besieged with military offensives such that civilian communities continue to experience human rights abuses and falls prey to the military’s terrorist war under the counter-insurgency plan Oplan Bantay Laya II (OBL II) and specifically in the National Internal Security Plan on Indigenous Peoples (NISP-IP) being implemented by the AFP in the lumad communities,” Fanagel said.

According to Fanagel, “The long list of indigenous martyrs in Southern Mindanao like Datu Dominador Diarog of Davao City, Ludenio Monzon of Boston, Marcial Latiban of Cateel, Kapis Butod of Talaingod, Agustin Cumawas of Matalam and many others who were slain by the state’s bullets magnifies the fact that the Arroyo government has no respect for indigenous peoples’ rights. The killing of civilians and activists who are resistant to the encroachment of military might and pseudo-development projects in farmer and indigenous communities is also under the AFP's implementation of OBL II.”

PASAKA is alarmed with the recent reports of human rights violations. “We received area reports that several families from 13 barangays in Baganga, Davao Oriental have again experienced military hamletting and abuses. Some victims have already sought assistance in the province as fears continue to escalate in Davao Oriental after military abuses have been committed against the local residents,” Fanagel added.

Meanwhile troubles also hound Davao City’s suburbs as military operations continue unabated in Paquibato District. According to the reports of the local organization, last August 9 , the regular mass in a chapel in Fatima, Paquibato did not take place because the military spread threats that there were bombs around their areas, sowing fear among the people.

Also in time of the 3rd founding anniversary of the 10th ID of the AFP, PASAKA called on the military’s regional command to put the welfare of civilian communities before the military’s target quota of killing and to heed the call of the lumads to pull-out military troops from the peasant and lumad communities since these military soldiers have never protected the civilians and in fact have gone frenzy on abusing the hapless lumads and farmers.

PASAKA also called on the church leaders, local government units, and peace advocates to call for the immediate pull-out of military troops in civilian communities and stop targeting the civilian populace.

“Amidst the dire poverty and hunger aggravated by the grim economic crisis, the most impoverished sectors which are the peasant and lumads are subject to gross military abuses. What the people need is food, jobs and education, not unjust war being launched by the Arroyo government,” Fanagel said.#


For reference:


KERLAN FANAGEL
Secretary General
PASAKA

Contact: 09192714767

PASAKA denounces killing of tribal leader in Tugbok;

calls for immediate and in-depth investigation on the case

DAVAO CITY—PASAKA, Confederation of Lumad Organizations in Southern Mindanao condemns in the strongest possible term the recent atrocity that killed Lumad Datu Dominador Diarog; wounding Emily Diarog (wife),and her daughters Mimi (4 y.o) and Jenely (8 y.o.) in Sitio Kahusayan, Manuel Giangga, Tugbok, Davao City on Wednesday, April 30.

“This is an alarming incident that needs urgent and in-depth investigation especially that, “men in uniform with TF arm-band under 73^rd IB” are allegedly involved in the strafing attack that took away the life of Datu Doming who have been known to be fighting for ancestral land rights,” PASAKA Secretary General Kerlan Fanagel said.

According to local residents, military soldiers of Task Force Davao under 73^rd Infantry Battalion are seen operating in the area and it has been widely known that they have close links with Quiboloy’s private army. According to the reports reaching PASAKA office, Military soldiers from 73^rd IB are not only silent spectators but they are direct backers and protectors of the congregation of Pastor Apollo Quiboloy.

“We challenge Col. Alexander Ambal that instead of pointing fingers and diverting the pressing issue at hand, he must check on his men and their involvement in this case and he must ready himself to face command responsibility on this matter,” Fanagel added.

Davao City police suspect a land dispute was the motive behind the predawn killings. Probers said the armed men with TF arm-band encircled and strafed the house of the Diarog family in Manuel Guianga village in Tugbok district. The police also cited information that Diarog was involved in a bitter land dispute with an “influential” group who wanted to buy the lot. The Diarog farm is found in-between the Prayer Mountain and a forested area bought by Quiboloy.

According to Fanagel, “National Commission on Indigenous Peoples/ NCIP’s power in protecting the lumad rights to ancestral lands and self-determination amidst this hideous incident is found no where. With these recent human rights violations, land-grabbing and dastardly attack against lumads who stood up for their ancestral rights only proves that IPRA Law has shown no teeth and claws to genuinely defend the lumads which then must be immediately scrapped. ”

PASAKA extends deepest condolences to the bereaved family, friends and colleagues of Datu Dominador Diarog, who is set to be buried today. Together with the Diarog family, PASAKA also calls for the immediate action on the part of Davao City Local Government Unit headed by Mayor Rodrigo Duterte in this case and to help bring justice to Diarog family.*

For Reference:

KERLAN FANAGEL

PASAKA, Secretary General