WATERCOLOR - Children and barbwires

"Children and barbwires should not even be placed in one sentence...or in one image"

This lines and painting, made by Ritzel Rabor-Polinar, was posted by Grace Mahinay in her FB account. It was inspired by these photos by Mahinay.

USEP English majors expressed solidarity with lumads, organized alternative class

English majors of the University of Southeastern Philippines (USEP) paid a visit to the bakwit from Kapalong and Talaingod and organized an alternative class as part of their expression of solidarity with the Manobos. The Manobos are in Davao City to call for the stop to militarization of their communities and the end to military attacks on lumad schools.

Donations can be delivered directly to the bakwit at UCCP Haran, Father Selga St., Madapo Hills, Davao City.



Photo from Mikee Billones

Thanks to protesting lumads for 22 new DepEd teachers for DavNor

Dear Diary,

Dalawang bagay ang mahalagang mabanggit hinggil sa balitang ito.

1. Kung hindi kumilos at nag-ingay ang mamamayang lumad, hindi mapipilitang magtalaga ng teachers ang DepEd sa liblib na lugar tulad ng Barangay Gupitan, Kapalong, Davao del Norte. Welcome ang desisyong ito ng DepEd, ngunit hanggang kailan ito? Kapag wala ng ingay ang mamamayan, matatapos na rin? Kaya kailangang patuloy ang panawagan ng dagdag na badyet sa edukasyon. Alisin na muna ang pagbabayad ng utang-panlabas.
2. Ang Sitio Patel sa Barangay Gupitan ay ang sentro ng barangay. Ang MISFI Academy ay nasa Sitio Muling. Ayon sa mga taga-Muling, kailangan nilang tawirin ang mga 40 na ilog bago marating ang Patel. Ibig sabihin, kahit may mga guro na sa Patel Elementary School (na meron naman na talaga noon pa), hindi pa rin ito magreresulta sa accessible na edukasyon para sa mga lumad na naseserbisyuhan ng MISFI Academy sa Sitio Muling.

Kaya ang dapat pasalamatan natin sa desisyong ito ng DepEd ay ang mga lumad sa Kapalong at Talaingod na kailangan pang tiisin ang hirap ng buhay sa bakwit para lang maiparating ang kanilang hinaing at panawagan na itigil na ang militarisasyon sa kanilang komunidad at hayaan na silang ipagpatuloy ang kanilang pag-aaral.

Mabuhay ang mga Manobong nakigbisog!

Nagpapasalamat,
Che

DepEd: 22 new teachers for Davao Norte IP schools

By Ivy C. Tejano
June 28, 2015
Sunstar Davao

THE Department of Education (DepEd) in Davao Region is set to deploy about 22 additional teachers in Indigenous Peoples (IP) schools in Davao del Norte this week.

DepEd-Davao spokesperson Jenelito Atillo said the 22 teachers will be assigned to the schools under the Salugpongan Ta ‘TanuIgkanogon and Mindanao Interfaith Services Foundation Inc. (MISFI) in Kapalong and Talaingod municipality.

"These [teachers] are newly-hired IP teachers. Ang mahitabo ani, i-deploy namo sila ug pormal sa komunidad ug tribo didto sa Patel Elementary Schools in Barangay Gupitan [Talaingod town]," Atillo said.

Atillo said they were supposed to turn over the teachers Monday, June 29, but they had to re-schedule because of bad weather.

The deployment of the teachers came after the DepEd Regional Director, lawyer Alberto Escobarte, issued permits last week allowing the Salugpongan and MISFI schools to operate.

Atillo said under the DepEd procedure, permits to operate are transmitted to DepEd division offices where concerned schools are supposed to be operating.

Ateneo de Davao U students welcome lumads with a photo exhibit

Davao City - Rise! for Education Alliance and Save Our Schools Network organized a photo exhibit last June 25-27 at the Thibault Ground in Ateneo de Davao University showing the plight of the lumads and their hopes and struggle for education.



Photos by Megue Zea.

Meet the four anti-lumad, pro-mining corporations military generals

Group says US should cut military aid to PH, citing rise of 4 generals despite rights abuses
By Tricia Aquino
June 26, 2015
InterAksyon.com

MANILA, Philippines -- In March last year, members of the Manobo tribe in Davao del Norte were reportedly threatened and interrogated by troops of the 60th Infantry Battalion and 4th Special Forces of the Army’s 10th Infantry Division, who also destroyed their rice fields and stole their chickens.

Later that month, aerial bombing sent more than 300 tribal families fleeing their community to seek refuge in Davao City.

Human rights groups believe the Manobos’ resistance to large-scale mining operations in their ancestral lands triggered the militarization, accusing the Armed Forces of the Philippines, particularly the Eastern Mindanao Command, of protecting the interests of expanding large-scale agricultural projects and mining projects.

Current EastMinCom chief, Lieutenant General Aurelio Baladad, who was promoted by President Benigno Aquino III in August last year, commanded the 10th ID at the time, his troops accused of using a school and a church as their camp, and ransacking the home of community leader Mario Liban and confiscating his crops.

Later, the soldiers allegedly destroyed the crops of other farmers, harassed tribal chief Datu Herminio Suminggil, and imposed a 20-hour curfew, preventing farmers from tending to their crops. They also supposedly arrested a couple and forced them to admit that they were involved in the capture of a colonel by the New People’s Army.

Days later, the soldiers allegedly returned, lined up the villagers, and threatened to kill them in retaliation for an NPA ambush on their comrades. The soldiers also forced children to guide them on an operation.

These and similar abuses committed by Eastmincom troops have remained unpunished even as Baladad and three other senior officers who command or have led them have seen their stars continue to soar, are documented in a report, “The Path to Promotion in the Armed Forces Philippines: Vilification Campaigns, Human Rights Abuses, and Impunity,” by the US-based Ecumenical Advocacy Network on the Philippines.

The EANP bills itself as “a national ecumenical network of individuals, organizations, and groups, advocating restrictions to military aid appropriations to the Philippine government until there is compliance with national and international standards of human rights.”

And it argues that its report contains enough bases for the US to put the squeeze on the Philippines to respect human rights by cutting foreign military funding to the AFP as it did in 2008 in response to escalating extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, and torture under then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

The EANP cites Section 7043 of the US’ 113th Congress Public Law 235, or the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015, which mandates that funds appropriated under the FMF “should only be made available” if the Secretary of State certifies and reports to the Committees on Appropriations that the Philippine government has complied with the following:

1. Investigating and prosecuting army personnel who were credibly alleged to have committed, aided, or abetted extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances, and other human rights violations.
2. Strengthening government institutions working to eliminate such crimes.
3. Implementing a policy of promoting army personnel who demonstrated professionalism and respect for human rights.
4. Ensuring that the AFP and paramilitary groups under its control were not engaging in acts of intimidation or violence against journalists or human rights defenders.

The group says the State Department has not yet certified the AFP’s compliance with these conditions.

In fact, it noted, the four generals cited in its report had been promoted “very rapidly” over the past five years, with an average of only one and a half years before rising to the next rank, despite the abuses committed by troops under their command.

“Each has risen to leadership through service in units responsible for a campaign of extrajudicial killings, disappearances, and illegal detentions,” the EANP said.

The generals cited by the EANP are:

Major General Jorge Segovia

Major General Jorge Segovia headed EastMinCom early last year until his retirement in July. During his stint, said EANP, more than 10,000 people from 50 communities in four provinces were displaced.

Back then, he and his division commanders, Ricardo Visaya of the 4th ID and Baladad of the 10th, mounted operations targeting certain barangays accused of supporting the New People’s Army, with soldiers and auxiliary militias placing communities under military control and turning schools, barangay halls and other community centers into encampments.

The soldiers conducted a detailed household census and imposed curfews, allowing farmers only four hours to tend their crops and otherwise limiting civilian movement.

Community leaders became victims of extrajudicial killings, disappearances, and public vilification.

Segovia began his EastMincom stint at the helm of the 10th ID from 2010 to 2012.

But before this, he had already been implicated in rights abuses as commander of the 2nd ID in Tanay, which was responsible for the capture of the “Morong 43,” health workers nabbed in a raid on a farmhouse in Rizal province in February 2010 in circumstances that the Commission on Human Rights very recently, if very belatedly, violated their human rights.

Months after their arrest and alleged torture, a court ordered the health workers released an all charges against them dropped.

The AFP has not disputed the CHR’s findings but insists the Morong 43 were communist rebels undergoing explosives training when they were captured.

Major General Ricardo Visaya

President Aquino promoted Visaya to head the Southern Luzon Command in September last year.

Before this, he commanded the 4th ID from April 2013 to September 2014.

Units under Visaya’s command were accused of using harsh and illegal tactics against local communities accused of supporting the NPA, EANP said.

In August last year, Manobo tribal leader Datu Roger Alaki was allegedly killed by a member of a tribal militia allegedly organized by the 73rd Infantry Battalion in Agusan del Sur. EANP cited the Kalumbay Regional Lumad Organization as saying residents reported being targets of a vilification campaign conducted by the tribal militia, including threatening to attack them if they refused sign an agreement granting access to a mining company to operate in their community. This drove 30 families from their homes.

The same month, Higaonon leader Marcel Singaman Lambon was killed by a member of a militia unit in Bukidnon. He had been campaigning to end the expansion of an oil palm plantation into his community. Before his murder, soldiers would often visit him and publicly vilify him as an NPA supporter, the EANP said.

Incidentally, Visaya formerly commanded the 69th IB under then 7th ID commander Jovito Palparan. Now retired, Palparan is facing trial for the abduction and disappearance of University of the Philippipnes students Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeno on June 26, 2006, who were reportedly snatched by troops of the 69th IB. The unit was also implicated in the abduction of brothers Raymond and Reynaldo Manalo, who later escaped. Raymond Manalo is one of the key witnesses against Palparan, who activists call “The Butcher” for the string of human rights abuses in areas where he was assigned as military commander.

From February to September 2007, when Visaya was promoted to head the 7th ID’s civil military operations in Metro Manila, soldiers were stationed to barangays in the metropolis and were accused of conducting surveillance, intimidating civilians and actively campaigning against progressive political parties, EANP said.

Lieutenant General Aurelio Baladad

After his stint as 10th ID commander, Baladad was promoted by Aquino to head EastMinCom in August last year. Incidentally, he used to command the 202nd Infantry Brigade of the 2nd ID and was among the officers accused of the illegal arrest and torture of the Morong 43.

Despite this, he was promoted to brigadier general and named AFP deputy chief of staff for operations.

In July 2013, he was promoted to major general and commanded the 3rd ID in Capiz until he received his third star in 2014.

Major General Eduardo Año

In September last year, Major General Eduardo Año was named commander of the 10th ID, which operates in the Davao provinces and Compostela Valley, an area of operations with a long history of human rights abuses, the EANP said.

Troops of the 71st IB under the 10th ID have been tagged in the killing of peasant leader Luis Carbajosa in April this year. Human rights groups reported that Carbajosa, who had organized land reform beneficiaries and actively opposed the incursion of big banana plantations, was on an AFP “hit list” prior to his murder.

In 2007, Año was accused of commanding soldiers who abducted activist Jonas Burgos, son of press freedom icon Jose Burgos Jr. Jonas has not been found since.

The Burgos family filed a criminal complaint against Año and vainly attempted to block his promotion. The Department of Justice dropped the case for lack of evidence.

Absence of empty bullet shells inside house contradicts AFP's "encounter" story

“Paquibato massacre” survivor appears before Davao City Council hearing
By JOHN RIZLE L. SALIGUMBA
June 24, 2015
Davao Today

DAVAO CITY – A survivor of an alleged massacre of farmers in Paquibato District here appeared before a committee hearing of the Davao City Council Wednesday to tell her account of the incident.

Rosita Sandolan said she was asleep inside the house when she was suddenly roused from sleep by the sound of gunfire and three bullets hit her pillows midnight of June 14.

“Another bullet hit the staircase as I was coming down before I dropped to the ground and under our house,” she said.

Nanay Sita is the mother of Aida Seisa, a woman peaseant-leader who owns the house and who survived the incident.

Three others, namely, Datu Ruben Enlog, Randy Carnasa, a purok (village) leader and farmer Oligario Quimbo were killed in what human rights group call “Paquibato massacre.”

Nanay Sita said Aida told her to cook rice at around 8pm because neighbors will eat with them.

“I did not know that it was the birthday of Aida’s daughter. I already slept by 9pm,” she said.

While she was hidden, Nay Sita said she heard Carnasa “bai, naigo ko, tabangi ko (I’m hit, please help me).”

“I did not see Randy till the morning the next day but I heard shouts aguy-aguy (ouch, ouch). Maybe he was finished-off. I don’t really know,” said Nay Sita.

At her vantage point, Nay Sita said she saw soldiers come inside their house.

“They scoured our things. They took cellphones owned by Aida, her husband and their children,” she said.

Nanay Sita also said she saw the soldiers leave in two vans at 4 am and were replaced by another batch.

“I only got out 5am when the neighbors were already gathered at the house,” she said.

Meanwhile, Nanay Sita said Aida and the three victims “were not NPAs (New People’s Army)” as alleged by the Army.

“We are all farmers who have to struggle everyday planting root crops, bananas and other food. Randy is even our kaabag (lay worker). My daughter’s work is to voice out the complaints of Paquibato farmers,” she said.

Sita said soldiers asked her “where can we find Parago (Ka Parago Sandoval of the NPA)?”

“I told them I do not know and I only saw him on TV with the Mayor (Rodrigo Duterte),” she said.

Sita said police forces only arrived 11:30am of Sunday.

Last Wednesday, Major General Eduardo Año, commander of the Army’s 10th Infantry Division, said the three were “members of the NPA.”

Año said what happened was a “legitimate encounter” and that the three were “positive for powder burns.”

He said they were serving a warrant of arrest to Ka Parago and a certain “Ka Opaw.”

Año said they would file a case of obstruction of justice and illegal possession of explosives against Seisa.

Third District Councilor Karlo Bello, chair of Committee on Civil, Political and Human Rights of the Davao City Councilr said that “they (Army) cannot just dismiss this as a legitimate encounter.”

“On the other hand, on the story of the relatives, this is a massacre,” said Bello.

Bello said the Army wanted to send a spokesperson but he said “they cannot just send anyone. They have to present those who took part in the gunfight.”

“I have heard and I cannot confirm that the warrant is to be served to Aida Seisa. How can you serve when she is not subject of the warrant? Secondly, the subject of the warrant is Pitao and Nelson but the ones killed were Carnasa, Quimbo and Enog,” he said.

“That is why we were hoping the military personnel to be here to give us their version as these things are not yet clear,” said Bello.

Meanwhile, Police authorities present during the hearing said they found no empty bullet shells inside the house but only in the surrounding areas.

Bello also said the Army must answer questions regarding the actual serving of the warrant whom he said “must have had prior coordination with the police.”

First District Councilor Leah Librado, vice-chair of the committee, asked the police why they only arrived on the scene at about noon of the next day.

Police officials said the Army told them that all state forces were advised to come to the area as one because of some security precautions.

For human rights group Karapatan, who made a fact-finding mission on the site, “there was no encounter and that residents in the area said there were no NPAs present.”

“All shots were directed towards the house of Seisa,” said Hanimay Suazo, spokesperson of Karapatan.

Suazo said that the lives of witnesses “are under threat.”

“Before this incident, Aida Seisa also asked our help as she have been receiving threats from military personnel,” said Suazo.

Bello said they would conduct next committee hearing onsite in Barangay Paradise Embac.(davaotoday.com)

The lumads are the true Filipinos, as original as you can get

War of extinction
By Arnold Alamon
June 19, 2015
Sunstar Cagayan de Oro

WHAT does it mean to be a Filipino in this day and age? I do not mean the likes of us who have sold out this country to the first blue-eyed fair-skinned stranger who came to our shores bearing new mythologies hidden beneath were swords.

I do not mean our kind who once had a proud independent blood flowing through our veins but have since exchanged this for the masochist pleasure of being ruled by kings in foreign shores and their anointed mestizos who do their bidding here.

I am referring to the first inhabitants of this island who opted to maintain their autonomy and preserve their beliefs and way of life by going far into the highlands. The lumads are the true Filipinos, as original as you can get. Like their Moro brothers and sisters, they are the Filipinos who can claim that they have never bowed down to a foreign and local power. They are the best representations of our pride as a people.

And yet a century and more after independence, we have yet come to terms to their importance to the national narrative. Instead, the Sate has officially waged a war of extinction toward their kind. What do you call the systemic state-backed efforts to drive them away from their ancestral lands in the name of foreign-backed mining and agricultural expansion in the guise of counterinsurgency?

We recall the Banwaon bakwit of Balit, San Luis, Agusan del Sur last December 2014 who suffered under difficult conditions in the evacuation center resulting to several deaths of the young and the old. They left their homes because of the intensifying militarization of their communities that led to serious human rights violations which culminated in the assassination of their village leader. They only managed to return to their communities just last March 2015 after the successful campaign of the community and support groups. There is strong evidence which point to the entry of three mining companies in the area which precipitated the supposed clearing operations of the military in the area.

And then we hear about the massacre of a lumad leader and two other companions and the disappearance of a woman peasant leader and her husband in Paquibato District, Davao last June 14, 2015. Military personnel reportedly strafed the home of Aida Seisa, secretary-general of the local peasant association killing Ruben Enlog, the leader of Nagkahiusang Lumad Mag-uuma sa Paquibato (or Nagkalupa)- a local peasant group, Randy Carnasa and Gary Quimbo, local church leaders, instantaneously.

Closer to home is the evacuation of 52 families from two barangays of Lagonglong, Misamis Oriental after the military also encamped inside civilian homes. They established an evacuation camp at the provincial grounds in Cagayan de Oro City last June 4, 2015 to dramatize their plight and have managed to return home just this week after the military finally vacated their communities.

A similar situation is currently taking place at the provincial capitol grounds of Bukidnon in Malaybalay City. Last June 11, 2015 the whole Higaonon community of Dalacutan, Cabanglasan left their homes to encamp at the capitol grounds to decry the killing of their tribal chieftain Frenie Landasan and the harassment they have been experiencing from the Dela Mance paramilitary group. As of this writing, they are being forcibly turned away by provincial security officials.

Then there is the news of lumad schools being closed by no less than the Department of Education upon the prodding of the military. They intend to replace these schools with institutions that are run by soldiers acting as para-teachers which prompted no less than Senator Miriam Santiago to point out the patent violation of the Constitution of such a plan. Schools are zones of peace which disallows armed groups most especially State forces to enter and meddle into their affairs.

The 146 lumad schools all over Mindanao have been the rallying point and source of unity of many indigenous communities against different forms of development aggression threatening their way of life. The attack on the schools and the lumad communities can only be interpreted as a systematic scheme to drive out the original Filipinos from their ancestral land so that a few companies with their politician benefactors can profit from the land and minerals therein.

What does it mean to be a lumad, or a native, of this land in this day and age?

Apart from the structural discrimination that they face in the contemporary social, economic, and political spheres, it seems that to be a true Filipino in this day and age also requires them to confront the war of extinction being waged by the State through the just and historic resistance they have been carrying on for centuries.

The lies and graceful exit of Escobarte and Fadul

25 private institutions, including the Lumad schools situated in Talaingod and Kapalong, Davao del Norte will now have their license to operate for school year 2015-2016, as announced by the Department of Education in Region 11 today.

This following the arrival of the documents from the Salugpungan schools at 6:00 PM yesterday.

Attached to the document is a letter specifically addressed to DepEd Region XI Director lawyer Alberto Escobarte, that says: “herein application letters with attachments dated April 13, 2015, of the Salugpungan Ta’tanu Igkanugon Community Learning Center received by DepEd Indigenous Peoples Education Office (IPsEO) on June 13, 2015”.

“The Department of Education has been very vocal ever since that the real and main issue here is the failure of the said schools to submit the documents needed for the renewal of their permit to operate,” said DepEd XI Information Officer Jenielito Atillo.

- Quoted from the news

Sinungaling ang DepEd sa bibig ni Atillo. Hindi totoo na ang pangunahing isyu dito ay ang permit. Note na April 13 pa ang application letters. Ang gusto lang gawin ng DepEd ay pagtakpan ang nabisto nitong kuntsabahay sa military upang ipasarado ang mga eskwelahan ng mga lumad sa pamamagitan ng opisyal na liham ni Fadul kay Escobarte.

Dapat isapubliko ng DepEd kung anu-ano ang mga pinag-usapan sa meeting nito with the Regional Intelligence Committee. Ilabas ang minutes ng nasabing meeting!

Bakit ang DepEd nakikipag-usap sa military at nakikipagkasundo na magpasarado ng eskwelahan? Dapat itong sagutin ni Fadul at Escobarte.

Dapat imbestigahan ni Escobarte at Fadul ang tangkang pagpapasunog ng mga militar sa mga eskwelahan.

3 stories of military abuse and injustice towards Kapalong children

Aspiration for education: Stories of Lumad pupils in Kapalong
Reil Benedict Obinque
June 13, 2015
Atenews

Ian, not his real name, sits still as he narrates how he and his classmates, eager for their class to start, decided to fsyetch their schoolteacher. On their way, however, military officers stopped them.

Little did Ian know that he will be forced to stay in the military detachment for the next seven days… along with the constant fear and worry that he might not be able to get out of there alive.

Ian is among the indigenous peoples (IPs) in Kapalong, Davao del Norte. He is just seventeen.

He is not the only student from the Mindanao Interfaith Services Foundation, Inc. (MISFI) Academy who experienced such traumatic events. There are others who also shared their experiences with some of the military officers stationed in their area. Like Ian, most of the experiences they narrated, if not all, are things children should not even encounter.

IP pupils: militarization victims?

“Nagtagbo unta ko sa maestro namo sa Sitio Kapatagan… Pagka-abot namo sa Kapatagan, wala pa man ang among maestro, gihulat namo’g mga duha ka oras. Wala pa man gyud. Naa may detachment sa Sitio Kapatagan. Pagka-[kita] sa amo, gikuha dayon mi. Upat mi kabuok,” Ian said. (I was supposed to meet our teacher at Sitio Kapatagan. When we reached Kapatagan, the teacher had yet to arrive, so we waited for around two hours. No teacher arrived after that. There was a military detachment in Sitio Kapatagan. Upon seeing us, the soldiers took us. There were four of us.)

When asked about who got them, he replied “Ang mga sundalo. Naka-uniform. Naay mga pusil nila.” (The soldiers. In uniform. With firearms.)

Ian added that they explained to the military officers that they were waiting for their school teacher. However, he said that the military officers did not seem to believe them. This is one of the recurring scenarios in the narrations of Lumad children who are victims of militarization in their place.

According to Ian, five military officers surrounded them before his two other companions were sent back to their homes while he was ordered to stay in the detachment.

“Gitusok pa gyud ug ballpen akong ilong,” Ian said. “Gidala jud mi didto sa babaw. Sa detachment gyud. Nag-ana pa gyud ang mga sundalo na intelligence daw mi. Intelligence daw mi sa New People’s Army,” he added. (The soldier even pricked my nose with a ballpen. They brought us to the hill, at the detachment. They said that we are intelligence officers of the New People's Army.)

Being tagged as an ally of the NPA, Ian’s life was suddenly put in danger.

“Ana pa gyud sila [military officers] na ‘Di ka karon mutug-an patyon ta gyud ka ba.’” Ian said, explaining how the officers were forcing him to confess that he is part of the NPA despite repeatedly denying such allegations. (They told us that if I won't confess, then they will kills me.)

Ian explained that he even defended himself by saying, “Sir, bisan pa’g patyon jud ko ninyo karon. Musugot man ko’g patyon basta, ang akoa, nagtug-an gyud ko’g maayo.” (Sir, even if you'll kill me now. I'm not afraid because I know I'm really telling the truth.)

According to Ian, several threats followed. He mentioned that, to scare him, a rifle was even cocked in front of him. He said that a military officer even told him “Nindot gyud ka patyon ba kay dugay na baya ko wala kapatay [ug] tao.” (It would be really nice to kill you because I haven't killed anyone for a long time.)

Furthermore, a knife was sharpened in front of him. “Diha pa gyud gibaid sa akong atubangan. Gipakita gyud nila sa akoa nga gibaid ang kutsilyo kay para mudulot daw sa akong liug. Nag-kurog gyud ko ato. Hadlok gyud kaayo ko ato,” Ian expressed. (The soldier sharpened the knife in front of me. They really showed to me that the knife could cut my neck.)

Ian said that after his mother talked to the military officers, showing them his notebooks and his uniform to convince the officers that Ian is indeed a student, he was released from the detachment.

“Gibaharan pa gyud ko nila na [kung] dili daw ko nila makit-an sa sulod sa isa ka bulan sa ika-duha nga beses, pasabot nga nagsulod na daw ko sa New People’s Army,” Ian mentioned. (They threatened me that if I won't show up to them within a month, it would mean that I already joined the NPA.)

But he confirmed to them that he will not engage to the said organization, for he is still studying.

Jane and Ben

Jane [not her real name], a 15-year-old Grade 5 student, shared that she was harassed by some members of the Alamara. The Alamara is a paramilitary group who is said to include IPs and operate in hinterlands, bringing high-powered arms given and supported by the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

“Gisugo ko sa among maestro na papaliton ug bugas sa Sitio Patil,” Jane narrated. (Our teacher ordered me to buy rice at Sitio Patil.)

On their way back to their place, she said they were stopped by the Alamara. “Nag-ana ang Alamara nga ‘Maghunong sa mo diha kay tan-awon namo inyong gi-dala kung mga gamit ba sa mga rebelde o mga tambal ba para [ihatag] sa rebelde.’ Wala na mi naghunong kay layo pa ang among lugar. Baktason pa namo.” (An Alamara member said 'stop right there because we would like to check if you're bringing things for the rebels or medicines to be given to the rebels.' We didn't stop because we still have to walk very far.)

Jane said that after they refused to stop, the Alamara fired a 45-caliber and a 12-caliber rifle.

“Hapit man gani ko maigo,” Jane said. (I was almost hit.)

According to her, no one was physically harmed but the gunshots really frightened them.

Ben, who was with Jane that time, had a separate experience with the military officers. He said that while they were on their way to fetch their teacher in Tagum, they were stopped by military officers and some members of the Alamara. There were 39 of them with him, all students, according to Ben.

He added that they were brought to Asuncion and were investigated by the military officers. According to him, the military officers convinced them not go to Tagum anymore. He said that they were sent back home no matter how much they insisted that they wanted to fetch their teachers.

“Ang gibuhat nila sa amoa, gihasi mi ug maayo,” Ben expressed. (What they did to us is really to harassed us.)

No more a ‘zone of peace’

A peaceful zone, a school is an institution that is supposed to make students feel secured and safe. Ben, however, said that this is not what they experience at MISFI Academy.

“Ang mga Alamara, samtang nag-klase mi, diha sila nangatulog sa among eskwelahan. Ilang mga armas gipa-atubang sa amoa samtang ga-klase mi,” Ben said. (The Alamara stayed and slept at our school while we're having class. They placed they firearms such that it is pointed to us while we're having class.)

He mentioned that members of the Alamara also accused the school that the subjects being taught there will train students to become rebels.

“Ang among eskwelahan sunugon kay skwelahan sa rebelde,” Ben said, describing how the Alamara treat their school. (They will burn our school because it is a rebel's school.)

He added that their teacher is also tagged as a member of the NPA, like how students in the school are labeled as rebels.

“Kung musubida among maestro ilang atangan kay dili sila gusto na musubida among maestro,” Ben said. (They were preventing our teachers from coming back.)

A report from Bulatlat.com mentioned that Department of Education Davao del Norte Division ordered to close the IP schools in the area.

Ben also said that the military officers prohibit them from staying long in their farm, for they will be tagged as NPA by doing so.

“Kung muadto mi sa uma, i-charge mi na magsuporta mi sa NPA. Kung muadto mi’g uma, limitado mi’g oras, kung dili mi kauli ana nga orasa kay muingon gyud sila na gasuporta mi sa NPA,” he said. (When we tend our farms, they will accuse us as supporting the NPA. They limit our time with our farms. When we can't return at a specified time, they accused us we are supporting the NPA.)

Their right to education

“Kaming mga lumad dugay na gyud mi nangayo’g edukasyon,” Ben expressed. “Imbis na nalipay ta nga nay eskwelahan nato, ing-anaon pa gyud nila.” (We lumads wanted education for a long time. Now we are happy that a school is finally available, but they're discouraging us.)

He said that their teachers sacrifice a lot to teach them how to read and write, and he wished that the military would refrain from interfering.

He added that they had been asking for a school from the Department of the Education but their request was not granted, and now that a school was given to them, it is tagged as an NPA school and is ordered to be closed.

“Kaming mga lumad, gusto namo nga makab-ot namo ang pag-maestra sa among lugar aron makatudlo mi sa isig ka Lumad sa among lugar,” Jane said. (We lumads want to be teachers in our community so that we can teach our fellow lumads.)

“Hinaot nako na dili na magpanghasi ang mga Alamara sa amoa. Hinaot nako na ang mga sundalo dili na mandakop sa mga estudyante,” Ian expressed. (I hope the Alamara will stop harassing our community. I hope that the soldiers will stop detaining and interrogating students.)

Until now, the three pupils, like most of the IPs in Kapalong, are still wishing that their school will not be closed or burned down because it’s their only chance to learn, their only chance to be educated.

PHOTOS - UP Mindanao biology majors organized medical mission for lumads

Davao City - A medical mission was organized last June 18 by the Biological Society (BIOS) of UP Mindanao for the lumad evacuees from Talaingod and Kapalong, Davao del Norte. With them are two (2) medical doctors, both BIOS alumni, who carried out check ups and diagnosis for around 30 evacuees.

Aside from the medical mission, the UP students also fed the evacuees with a protein-rich rice porridge.

After the mission, a short program was organized to explain to the students the situation of the lumads. This was given by Isidro Indao, spokesperson of the Pasaka Confederation of Indigenous Peoples in Southern Mindanao, who thanked the students for their humanitarian assistance.

"Mas maayo pa mong mga estudyante nakahatag ug tabang sa mga lumad. Ang gobyerno kay gawas sa wala naghatag, nagpalisud-lisud pa jud sa mga lumad," said Indao. (You, students, are much better than the government because you have provided help to the lumads. The government, instead of helping, has oppressed the lumads.)

The medical mission was also facilitated by the medical team from Fr. Fausto "Pops" Tentorio Foundation, which invited UP students to volunteer with them in delivering health services to lumad communities.

The event was capped by a solidarity dance with Manobo traditional musicians.