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Report of the National Solidarity Mission for Surigao del Sur Evacuees
Submitted by Karl Ramirez on Fri, 09/04/2009 - 09:40.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY National Solidarity Mission
Reclaiming our Lives, Reclaiming our Ancestral Land
28 August – 1 September 2009, Surigao del Sur
This report is the result of the National Solidarity Visit to the Surigao del Sur Lumad Evacuees that was spearheaded by Task Force Surigao headed by its spokesperson Representative Luzviminda Ilagan of the Gabriela Partylist. 179 participants from 52 National, Regional and Caraga organizations attended the entire mission.
This NSM report aims to examine the cause of the massive evacuation of the lumad communities in Lianga, San Agustin, Tago and Carrascal in Surigao del Sur that occurred from June to August 2009, to assess the situation of the evacuees at the time of the mission and to present recommendations to mitigate the effects and prevent the same from occurring in the future.
The Tribal Filipino Program of Surigao del Sur (TRIFPSS) and Alternative Learning Center for Agricultural and Livelihood Development (ALCADEV) schools play a pivotal role in the development of the Malahutayong Pakigbisog Alang sa Sumusunod (MAPASU) communities, a concrete manifestation of the strong unity of the Manobo in Lianga and other nearby lumad communities. Moreover, these schools inspire the Manobo people to exercise and advance their right to self-determination in defense of their ancestral domain. The TRIFPSS or ALCADEV teachers, living within the community, are higly esteemed as educators, advisers and critics in the community. They provided the stabilizing presence that allowed the lumad people to thrive, secure in the knowledge that dependable and sincere people are working with them to realize the tribal communities’ full potential. The education of their children and their regular exercises in democratic decision-making have created a strong sense of community.
For the bankrupt and desperate Arroyo Regime, these communities represented the last bastion that must be destroyed to gain access and exploit the abundant forest and mineral resources in Lianga to fill its depleted coffers. The Department of Energy (DOE) has again put the entire ancestral domain of these Andap Valley communities as among the listed DOE-recommended areas for the mining of coal in their 2009 Philippine Energy Contracting Round that closed last June 2009.
Military presence in the lumad communities began to build up also in June 2009. In the guise of bringing development through the implementation of education, electrification, road-building and small socio-economic projects, the military aggressively campaigned for the conscription of community members into the Task Force Gantangan – Bagani Forces or else surrender as NPA. They talked to children of stealing the firearms of the NPA, distributing flyers with the pricelist for surrendered arms. They sought to supplant the schools that the communities founded with their own schools, purportedly to “legalize” them, openly accusing TRIFPSS and ALCADEV of being illegal and some staff of being NPA.
Because the military was staying within the communities with their high-power firearms always at the ready and conducting armed patrols in the communities’ perimeter, there were reported incidents of engagements, allegedly with the NPA, around the communities.
These conditions spurred the massive evacuations from June to August 2009. The evacuees suffered inhuman conditions at evacuation centers, receiving inadequate social services from the government. They lived mainly from the community leaders’ efforts to approach local, national and international organizations to appeal for assistance. It was again through their own efforts that food, medical services and other support reached them during their evacuation.
The Manobo community leadership, through MAPASU, engaged government, non-government, church and sectoral organizations at the local, national and international level, to lobby for their immediate return to their communities. It was only when the issue came to the attention of national leaders that the military announced their pullout from the communities with the caveat that they will still return to implement the projects that they had to put on hold while the people were in evacuation.
The NSM delegation accompanied the communities during the return to their homes on August 30, after more than 6 weeks in evacuation. There were documented cases of defacement of property with anti-communist slogans, malicious destruction and loss of property. Some farms were destroyed because of the prolonged period when the crops were not tended.
In Pantukan, Carrascal, the military was still in the community, living less than 75 meters from the back of the Roman Catholic Chapel when the NSM delegation visited. The military’s clotheslines where still full and in plain view when the mission arrived. They were also harassed by two motorcycle-riding men in civilian clothes who were believed to be intelligence agents who took pictures of the delegation while interviewing residents.
Under the OPLAN Bantay Laya 2, the military operates in three modes – combat, intelligence and civil-military. Aside from allowing the Philippine Government to declare a “strategic victory” against the CPP-NPA-NDFP before its deadline in 2010, these modes that are in full operation in Surigao del Sur, more importantly, will pave the way for the uninterrupted operation of mining companies in the area. The projects that were supposedly for the development of these communities are actually nothing more than consolation prizes and bribes for the wholesale plunder of the mineral and other forest resources in their ancestral domain. The TRIFPSS and ALCADEV schools are vilified and TFG-BF are recruited to undermine the unity and strong sense of community identity that have become inherent in the Manobo communities in the MAPASU areas.
Despite the fact that the Manobo communities have already returned to their homes, with the media pronouncements of the AFP regarding the 13 Manobo residents in the MAPASU area who are already charged with warrants of arrest ready to be served, their persistence in implementing their “development projects” and continued vilification of ALCADEV, its learners and staff, these communities continue to be under threat.
We therefore recommend:
Reclaiming our Lives, Reclaiming our Ancestral Land
28 August – 1 September 2009, Surigao del Sur
This report is the result of the National Solidarity Visit to the Surigao del Sur Lumad Evacuees that was spearheaded by Task Force Surigao headed by its spokesperson Representative Luzviminda Ilagan of the Gabriela Partylist. 179 participants from 52 National, Regional and Caraga organizations attended the entire mission.
This NSM report aims to examine the cause of the massive evacuation of the lumad communities in Lianga, San Agustin, Tago and Carrascal in Surigao del Sur that occurred from June to August 2009, to assess the situation of the evacuees at the time of the mission and to present recommendations to mitigate the effects and prevent the same from occurring in the future.
The Tribal Filipino Program of Surigao del Sur (TRIFPSS) and Alternative Learning Center for Agricultural and Livelihood Development (ALCADEV) schools play a pivotal role in the development of the Malahutayong Pakigbisog Alang sa Sumusunod (MAPASU) communities, a concrete manifestation of the strong unity of the Manobo in Lianga and other nearby lumad communities. Moreover, these schools inspire the Manobo people to exercise and advance their right to self-determination in defense of their ancestral domain. The TRIFPSS or ALCADEV teachers, living within the community, are higly esteemed as educators, advisers and critics in the community. They provided the stabilizing presence that allowed the lumad people to thrive, secure in the knowledge that dependable and sincere people are working with them to realize the tribal communities’ full potential. The education of their children and their regular exercises in democratic decision-making have created a strong sense of community.
For the bankrupt and desperate Arroyo Regime, these communities represented the last bastion that must be destroyed to gain access and exploit the abundant forest and mineral resources in Lianga to fill its depleted coffers. The Department of Energy (DOE) has again put the entire ancestral domain of these Andap Valley communities as among the listed DOE-recommended areas for the mining of coal in their 2009 Philippine Energy Contracting Round that closed last June 2009.
Military presence in the lumad communities began to build up also in June 2009. In the guise of bringing development through the implementation of education, electrification, road-building and small socio-economic projects, the military aggressively campaigned for the conscription of community members into the Task Force Gantangan – Bagani Forces or else surrender as NPA. They talked to children of stealing the firearms of the NPA, distributing flyers with the pricelist for surrendered arms. They sought to supplant the schools that the communities founded with their own schools, purportedly to “legalize” them, openly accusing TRIFPSS and ALCADEV of being illegal and some staff of being NPA.
Because the military was staying within the communities with their high-power firearms always at the ready and conducting armed patrols in the communities’ perimeter, there were reported incidents of engagements, allegedly with the NPA, around the communities.
These conditions spurred the massive evacuations from June to August 2009. The evacuees suffered inhuman conditions at evacuation centers, receiving inadequate social services from the government. They lived mainly from the community leaders’ efforts to approach local, national and international organizations to appeal for assistance. It was again through their own efforts that food, medical services and other support reached them during their evacuation.
The Manobo community leadership, through MAPASU, engaged government, non-government, church and sectoral organizations at the local, national and international level, to lobby for their immediate return to their communities. It was only when the issue came to the attention of national leaders that the military announced their pullout from the communities with the caveat that they will still return to implement the projects that they had to put on hold while the people were in evacuation.
The NSM delegation accompanied the communities during the return to their homes on August 30, after more than 6 weeks in evacuation. There were documented cases of defacement of property with anti-communist slogans, malicious destruction and loss of property. Some farms were destroyed because of the prolonged period when the crops were not tended.
In Pantukan, Carrascal, the military was still in the community, living less than 75 meters from the back of the Roman Catholic Chapel when the NSM delegation visited. The military’s clotheslines where still full and in plain view when the mission arrived. They were also harassed by two motorcycle-riding men in civilian clothes who were believed to be intelligence agents who took pictures of the delegation while interviewing residents.
Under the OPLAN Bantay Laya 2, the military operates in three modes – combat, intelligence and civil-military. Aside from allowing the Philippine Government to declare a “strategic victory” against the CPP-NPA-NDFP before its deadline in 2010, these modes that are in full operation in Surigao del Sur, more importantly, will pave the way for the uninterrupted operation of mining companies in the area. The projects that were supposedly for the development of these communities are actually nothing more than consolation prizes and bribes for the wholesale plunder of the mineral and other forest resources in their ancestral domain. The TRIFPSS and ALCADEV schools are vilified and TFG-BF are recruited to undermine the unity and strong sense of community identity that have become inherent in the Manobo communities in the MAPASU areas.
Despite the fact that the Manobo communities have already returned to their homes, with the media pronouncements of the AFP regarding the 13 Manobo residents in the MAPASU area who are already charged with warrants of arrest ready to be served, their persistence in implementing their “development projects” and continued vilification of ALCADEV, its learners and staff, these communities continue to be under threat.
We therefore recommend:
- For the Philippine Government to withdraw OPLAN Bantay Laya 2 and pull out military troops from civilian communities in Surigao del Sur;
- For the AFP and the Philippine Government to idemnify members of the community who incurred damages/losses to property and livelihood due to the prolonged military occupation of their communities and homes;
- For the AFP to stop the recruitment to the illegal Task Force Gantangan-Bagani Forces and to consider the interests of these lumad communities and allow the civilian government line agencies to handle the development projects that they plan to implement with community consultations to ensure their full, prior and informed consent;
- For House of Representatives’ Committees on Human Rights, Education and Indigenous Peoples’ Concern to immediately tackle the resolutions that were submitted by the office of Rep. Luz Ilagan regarding issues relating to the massive evacuations in Surigao del Sur and conduct onsite investigations to address them;
- For Commission on Human Rights Chairperson Atty. Leila de Lima to investigate so that responsible persons may be held accountable for the conditions in Surigao del Sur that spurred the massive evacuations, the inhuman conditions due to the lack of social services that the evacuees suffered at the evacuation centers and the threats that still confront these communities even after they have returned home;
- For National Commission on Indigenous Peoples Commissioner Eugenio A. Insigne to conduct an on-site investigation to help resolve contentious issues regarding the recognition of the ancestral domain and right to self-determination and to act decisively to protect the legitimate interests of the Manobo communities affected by this massive evacuation;
- For President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to be reminded that the Philippine Government is a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and that it is also a party to all the major Human Rights instruments, thus it is bound to observe all of these instruments’ provisions.
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