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Deep Into Banwaon Lands:
A ‘Virtual Garrison’

Nuns from the Religious of the Good Shepherd (RGS) have appealed to President Arroyo, Congress and other agencies to pull out government soldiers and paramilitary men from Lumad villages in San Luis, Agusan del Sur in southern Philippines. Upland communities including religious centers and livelihood projects are reportedly subjected to military surveillance and harassment. Military operations have intensified since Environment Secretary Heherson Alvarez approved big corporate tree plantation projects that encroach into Lumadland, it was observed.

BY JOWEL F. CANUDAY
MindaNews

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BARANGAY BALIT, San Luis, Agusan del Sur -- Under cover of darkness and the bushes, armed men clad in fatigue uniforms crawled towards the large hut where Banwaon, Talaandig and leaders had gathered in late November for a two-day meeting to discuss their problems and propose solutions.

Not one among the Lumad leaders, members of non-government organizations and journalists, noticed the armed men until a young Banwaon boy in a neighboring hut, armed with a bolo, cried out, "Who's there?" Then to the Lumad leaders, the boy shouted, "soldiers!" Some tribal leaders rushed to confront the armed men who broke into the compound of the Religious of the Good Shepherd (RGS) sisters' elementary school where the November 22 to 23 gathering was held.

Seven soldiers from the 36th infantry battalion stood up from the bushes, murmured their apologies then left in a huff. Moments later, Mercilito Precioso, 28, the Banwaon barangay captain of Balit, grabbed a microphone and towards the direction of the fleeing soldiers, said: "Why are you spying on us? Why were you armed with high-powered rifles and in a position to attack us? These are my people, we are not outlaws, not one of us is armed. We have gathered to talk and find solutions to the problems facing our people. If you want to find out who we are, ask us. We respect you and you must also respect us."

A platoon of soldiers led by Lt. Erwin Cariño had actually established camp here since early November following reports the communist-led New People's Army (NPA) is establishing a "shadow government" here. The soldiers occupied the barangay hall, day care center and multi-purpose building. Some soldiers also dug foxholes within the compound of the barangay hall from where they mounted automatic rifles. Close to 500 Army troopers were deployed in several other barangays and forested areas of this town in search of the NPA.

Col. Francisco Simbajon, spokesperson of the Army's 402nd Brigade, said the military received "reliable information" from NPA rebels who recently surrendered to the military that the Northern Mindanao Regional Party Committee (NMRPC) of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) had set up base here.

Simbajon said they deployed troops here because the NPA stepped up attacks against government forces, raiding the armory of the Philippine National Police (PNP) in the poblacion here on October 7 and a detachment of the Citizens Armed Forces Geographical Unit (Cafgu) a few days earlier.

Simbajon said soldiers and officers are very careful against committing human rights violations because they could be dismissed from the service or demoted. He said the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) also envisions soldiers to be "barangay social development workers" who would provide basic social services to grassroots communities in the hinterlands.

"Your Armed Forces have changed, we are conscious of human rights abuses, we remove abusive soldiers from the service," he said. But military abuses come in various forms, Bae Emily Sanguitan, a Banwaon leader, said. Sanguitan said the soldiers turned their village and nearby communities into a "virtual garrison" and intensified its "psychological warfare" against them.

Gineon Mandumbuan, Barangay Sta. Rita chair, said soldiers confiscated the local government-issued hand-held radio for the village, claiming this was being used to warn rebels of Army presence. Precioso said that since the soldiers occupied the barangay center, he and other village officials have failed to perform their daily administrative tasks.

Precioso accused the soldiers even intervened on administrative matters like disbursement of village funds and identifying priority projects. He said the occupation of the barangay center by the soldiers had rendered elected barangay officials in the area powerless. "So much for civilian supremacy over the military. It doesn't exist here," he said.

Soldiers also barred journalists from taking photographs of the barangay hall and soldiers cooking, sleeping, cleaning their guns there. A soldier who identified himself as Sgt Pagara, told reporters that Cariño had strictly instructed them not to allow anybody to take photographs. "The trouble with these pictures is these will be used against us. If we allow you to take photos, we might get reprimanded. Please understand us, our jobs are at stake here," Pagara said, adding his family is poor and he has three children to feed. Reporters went to the barangay center twice to interview Cariño and seek his permission to take photographs but his subordinates said he was not available.

Antonio Otacan, better known as Datu Luay-Luay, noted that soldiers had been keeping watch over every movement of residents in the village. He said soldiers interrogated residents on their links with the NPA in the guise of conducting surveys on the problems of the villagers. The Datu also said the soldiers forced the villagers to pledge allegiance to the government and admit they are either former members or supporters of the NPA.

"Why should we surrender? They are forcing us to surrender because that will mean meritorious points for the military officers here. They are desperate to gain promotion," he said. Sr. Dianne Cabasagan, head of the RGS San Luis community, said the military in several media interviews and "pulong-pulongs" in neighboring barangays, even sowed intrigues about them. He said the soldiers spread word that the nuns hired NPA guerrillas to work in the RGS demonstration farm here and that earnings from the farm were channeled to the rebel's coffers.

Cabasagan also decried as unfair and uncalled for allegations made by Simbajon in the media that the RGS nuns are "exploiting" Banwaon Lumad scholars. Simbajon, in radio and print interviews in Butuan City, said the nuns forced their scholars to work as teachers for the various primary schools they set up in San Luis and were paying them meager salaries.

Sr. John Dumaug, manager of the RGS-run farm, said Army soldiers raided the RGS-run St. John Eudes Home student dormitory at Kilometer 4 here on suspicion that young armed NPA rebels entered the house. Dumaug said that when she demanded a search warrant from the soldiers, she was told the government had imposed a warrantless search policy.

Dumaug also expressed disgust over Simbajon's public statements that she is no longer a nun and that she bought a 20,000-hectare land from the Banwaons. "I have been a faithful nun since 1971. I have committed to serve the poor as a nun. To say that I am not a nun anymore is an insult and an affront to my faith," Dumaug said.

On November 24, residents here, barangay officials and Lumad leaders in coordination with the RGS nuns organized the "Panagtagbo," a dialogue with Simbajon and Cariño at the RGS' school compound here.

Simbajon and Cariño arrived with a platoon of heavily-armed soldiers and policemen and an Armed Personnel Carrier (APC). Simbajon apologized to the nuns and the community here but stressed that the information was provided by "disgruntled" RGS-employed teachers, former rebels and some villagers.

He said he made the information public to "soften and convince" the nuns and the Balit community to hold a dialogue with the military. He said he and Col. Juanito Cabayao, chief of the 402nd brigade, wanted to have a dialogue but the nuns and the residents here did not appear willing to talk.

"In fact, Col. Cabayao suggested that we arrest an innocent man in the community. If we do that, the RGS nuns and the Balit residents will surely work fast in demanding for the release of that man and visit us in the Brigade. There we can have the dialogue," Simbajon said.

Dumaug said she almost fell off her seat when she heard Simbajon say that. After the soldiers left, residents drafted and collected signatures for a petition demanding the pull-out of the soldiers from their villages. The petition was sent to Cabayao with copies furnished President Arroyo, Congress and other government agencies.

"We are calling on all high officials in government, especially the, AFP to withdraw the soldiers from our village… We want a peaceful and normal way of life in our village," the petition read.

(Editor’s note: MindaNews is a Davao city-based news agency owned and operated by journalists based in Mindanao. It can be reached through mindanao@mindanews.com.)

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