HUMAN
RIGHTS WATCH
‘Killing of Peace Advocate
Must Not Result in Tribal War’
The widow of a slain
peace advocate called on all tribes not to resort to a tribal war in
seeking justice for her husband’s death.
BY ABIGAIL TAGUBA
BENGWAYAN
Northern Dispatch
Posted by Bulatlat
TABUK, Kalinga — The
widow of a slain peace advocate called on all tribes not to resort to a
tribal war in seeking justice for her husband’s death.
Agustina Bangit, wife
of slain Malbong tribal peacemaker Pangat Rafael Markus Bangit
called on Kalina tribes not to resort to tribal war in the wake of the
political assassination of her husband on June 8 in Isabela.
She called for
concerted action in the pursuit for justice for Bangit, but not through
tribal war. “Markus worked for tribal peace from the start. Let not his
death spark conflict between tribes. Let us work for peace as he always
did,” she said during the memorial service on June 15 in Sitio Tomiangan,
Brgy. Dupag, here. A mother to three boys and a five year-old girl, She
expressed concern for the security of her family.
Bangit’s siblings
also reiterated the call for peace among tribes.
In previous tributes
to the slain peace advocate in Tomiangan, representatives of the Bodong
Pongors’ Organization, now the Binodngan People’s Organization (BPO), a
regional alliance of Cordillera tribes affiliated with the Cordillera
Peoples Alliance (CPA), commended the significant role of Bangit in tribal
war mediation in the region, that included the Betwagan-Bugnay tribal war;
the Mabaca Malbong, and the Sallapadan-Belwang tribal conflicts.
“Despite his relative youth, he was very
much respected even by elders of his tribe. This respect grew as Markus
displayed increasing skills in the settlement of inter-tribal disputes and
deepening knowledge of the bodong (peace pact) system. Eventually,
Markus became a peace pact holder himself,” the CPA June 8 statement read.
In a statement,
Kalinga’s Lejo Cawilan Command (LCC) of the New People’s Army (NPA) also
called for unity among the Kalinga tribes in the quest for justice for
Bangit whom it described a well-loved leader of the Cordillera peoples.
“Bangit’s death
should not result in misunderstanding or conflict among Kalinga tribes. We
all want justice for his death but we should not be entrapped by the
enemy’s ploy to create friction between us,” the statement said in the
Ilocano language.
The LCC further
stated that Bangit’s death, the 684th political killing nationwide under
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s administration, is part of a
nationwide spate of killings aimed at crushing the armed resistance.
Bangit was against
tribal war as a means to solve tribal conflict. His campaign to redefine
the bodong influenced other tribes in Kalinga as well as other
provinces in the Cordillera. Bulatlat
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