In a statement, Karapatan said at least 22 families in sitios Panukmoan and Manluy-a of barangay Diatagon in Lianga left their village on June 23 because they “no longer feel safe staying in their communities due to the constant harassment and threats made by troops of the 3rd Special Forces Battalion.”
By DEE AYROSO
Obello Bay-ao’s father Benjo called on President Rodrigo Duterte to punish those involved with the extrajudicial killings, disband paramilitary groups, lift the martial law in Mindanao and resume peace talks with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines.
Two members of a Banwaon group that opposes development aggression and militarization in their ancestral lands were gunned down this week.
Even before President Duterte withdrew the government’s unilateral ceasefire declaration on July 30, paramilitary groups attacked a Lumád community.
“We have already lost a teacher and many Lumad leaders; we will not wait until we lose another one.”
“We bring home victory: the support of a broad range of people to the people’s resistance in Mindanao, which is also the Filipino people’s struggle.”
“I was accompanying 36 students of the Misfi academy when this happened. They also brought the students with me. We were interrogated.”
“What’s at stake here is the Lumad schools, the heritage, the yutang kabilin (ancestral land). The Lumad must survive.” — UP Diliman Chancellor Michael Tan
“The truth about the killings and forcible evacuation has been clear since the first week of the incident, yet in the delay, many lies have been forcefully fed to the public to justify the systematic military operation against Lumad schools, progressive organizations and communities in Mindanao.”
By Carol Pagaduan-Araullo Streetwise | BusinessWorld The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and its most rabid apologists are trying desperately to stem the tide of public outrage here and abroad over the series of killings of unarmed lumad leaders, their supporters, and ordinary community members attributed to paramilitary groups created, funded, directed, and protected…