KILLINGS | Three Lumad dead in military operation in the south

KILLINGS | Three Lumad dead in military operation in the south – rights groups

June 17, 2021 , 05:41 PM

(June 17, 2021) – Soldiers killed three indigenous people, including a minor, in the troubled southern island in an armed encounter with rebels, but human rights groups called it an attack against civilians.

A spokesman for the Army’s 4th Infantry Division, Major Rodulfo Cordero, said the killed people were known members of the Maoist-led rebel movement, who were caught fleeing Sitio New Decoy in Diatagon village.

Cordero also said the slain people, whom he accused were members of the New People’s Army (NPA), tried to detonate an anti-personnel landmine, but were stopped when soldiers opened fire. The exchange of automatic gunfire lasted for 10 minutes, he added.

But the rights group disputed the military’s version of the story, saying the victims were farmers harvesting abaca when the soldiers arrived.

Karapatan said three members of the Lumad-Manobo tribe in Lianga, Surigao del Sur were killed by members of the 3rd Special Forces Battalion of the Philippine Army on Tuesday afternoon.

“We stand with the people of Lianga with their outrage, their being victims of this bloody rampage against the Lumad people,” said Cristina Palabay, Karapatan secretary general, in a statement.

“The perpetrators are mad killers, with clearly no respect for life and rights. They look at the Lumad people like hunted prey, lying to their teeth and falsely tagging the victims as members of the New People’s Army.”

The two adult victims were identified as Willie Rodriguez and Lenie Rivas, members of a progressive Lumad organization named “Malahutayong Pakigbisog alang sa Sumusunod.”

The third victim, a 12-year-old, was a student of the Tribal Filipino Program of Surigao del Sur (TRIFPSS), an alternative school for Lumad children.

Some reports also said the young girl may have also been raped and tortured based on their relatives’ accounts, according to Save Our Schools Network, which called on the Commission on Human Rights to investigate the incident.

Katribu, an organization supporting national minorities, also condemned the killing which they said was part of the administration’s effort to stifle dissent from the marginalized.

“Ang hangad lamang ng mga katutubo ay mapayapa silang mamuhay sa kanilang lupang ninuno,” Katribu’s Rei Paulin said.

“Hangad nilang mabigyan sila ng pantay na oportunidad sa buhay sa pamamagitan ng pag-gigiit sa panlipunang serbisyo tulad ng edukasyon at kalusugan. Iyon ang tunay na dahilan kung bakit patuloy silang nakikibaka upang depensahan ang kanilang mga komunidad at kung bakit sila nagtatayo ng sarili nilang mga paaralan.”

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