GMA Tagged Responsible for Murder of Kalinga Peace Pact Holder

By Abigail Taguba Bengwayan
Northern Dispatch
Posted by Bulatlat

TABUK, Kalinga — Former Kalinga congressman and founding chairperson of the Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA) Atty. William “Billy” Claver tagged the Macapagal-Arroyo administration responsible for the death of Kalinga Pangat (peace pact holder) Rafael Markus Bangit, who was shot dead on June 8 by a bonnet-wearing gunman in Echague, Isabela province. Bangit, who belongs to the Malbong tribe in Tomiangan, Tabuk, Kalinga, and his eldest son were bound for Baguio that day.

“I lay the blame on the government of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA),” said Claver, who has known Bangit since he was a young man during the height of the Kalinga and Bontoc peoples’ struggle against the World Bank-funded Chico Dams in the 1970s. “It is a known fact that the military implements this nationwide spate of killings, and GMA is to blame, with her policies of violence,” he said, citing the calibrated preemptive response (CPR) and Presidential Proclamation 1017.

Bangit was the regional coordinator of the Binodngan People’s Organization (BPO), Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA) Elders Desk, and the present vice chairperson of Bayan Muna-Kalinga. As a pangat, he holds a peace pact with the Dangtalan tribe of Pasil.

Humble and unassuming

“Rafael was always a humble fellow, always unassuming and behind himself. He was never a braggart, and he never presumed to be the know-all leader of Kalinga. He was always at the forefront of organizing people’s organizations,” added Claver.

The broadening movement from the Chico Dams struggle and the Kalinga-Bontok Peace pact Holders Association (KBPPHA) spawned the CPA in 1984.  Bangit was CPA-Kalinga secretary-general from 1995 to 1998.

“There is nothing I will forget about Rafael. I first met him as a young student, when his father sent him to me during the anti-Chico dam struggle and he was already in the Army’s wanted list then. Since then, I could always rely on Rafael in our work in the campaign against the dams,” he added.

Tribute, indignation rally

Friends, and colleagues friends from the academe and government, including Tabuk Mayor Camilo Lammawin, Jr., attended the tribute held June 11 at the Bangit residence in Dagupan Centro, Tabuk, Kalinga province, more than 300 kms north of Manila.

After church service on June 12, an indignation rally was held from the St. Joseph Parish Church towards the Tabuk Municipal Hall, where another program was held. Speakers from Bayan Muna Kalinga and the local government. Bp. Renato Abibico also delivered a statement during the said activity.

A caravan brought Bangit home to his village in Tomiangan, one and a half hour’s drive from the provincial center.

Two nights before the burial, members of the Dangtalan tribe of which Bangit keeps a peace pact with (ka-bodong) his tribe, arrived in Tomiangan to pay their respects to the clan and Malbong tribe. Rituals were likewise observed.

Lejo Cawilan Command condemns killing

In a handwritten statement read during the wake, the Lejo Cawilan Command of the New People’s Army in Kalinga province condemned the killing of Bangit and supported the Kalinga peoples’ cry for justice for the slain tribal peacemaker. It was signed by Ka Raya Bannawagan, read. Northern Dispatch / Posted by Bulatlat 

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