Indigenous groups, UN rapporteur Tauli-Corpuz discuss lumad killings, harassment

Indigenous groups from Mindanao and various regions on Thursday forwarded cases of massacres, attacks on schools, forced confessions, and other atrocities to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights of the Indigenous Peoples.

Witnesses, immediate family members, and survivors presented their accounts to Special Rapporteur Victoria Tauli-Corpuz through Skype at the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) at UP-Diliman.

Corpuz could not attend the event in person as she has been accused of being a member of the Communist Party of the Philippines, a group tagged by the government as terrorists along with its armed wing New People's Army.

"Maski na nagusap-usap tayo ng ganito, hindi pa rin ako makakagawa ng field report na isu-submit ko dahil hindi naman ito official na, kumbaga, sinang-ayunan ng gobyerno," Corpuz explained.

Jill Cariño, Philippine Task Force for Indigenous Peoples Rights (TFIP) convenor, said the dialogue can still draw the government's attention to the plight of IPs even without a full report from the special rapporteur.

Cariño said, "Sabi nga niya [Corpuz], pwede siyang gumawa ng... thematic reports kung saan niya isasama yung data na nakukuha niya sa dialogue na ito."

"Of course kasama yung iba pang cases from other countries so hindi sa Philippines lang, dahil kailangan may official visit sana siya dito in order to make a full report on the Philippines."

Formal complaints to be filed

Kalipunan ng Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas (Katribu) and TFIP plan to file formal complaints over several cases of IP rights violations, including:

• the massacre of eight Lumad, supposedly by government forces, in Barangay Ned, Lake Sebu, South Cotabato;
• violations allegedly committed by government focrs on Lumad schools, including harassment, destruction of facilities, closure of schools, strafing, illegal arrest and detention, and extrajudicia killings
• the killing of Grade 7 student Obello Bay-ao, a Manobo member of a students' organization; and
• the killing of Mangyan community leaders Erning Aykid and Aylan Lantoy.

Save Our Schools (SOS) Network Mindanao spokesperson Rius Valle said their organization recorded 534 attacks on lumad communities since the start of President Rodrigo Duterte's administration.

He claimed that about 72 percent of the attacks occurred after Duterte proclaimed martial law in Mindanao on May 23, 2017.

"Hindi po peaceful ang martial law sa Mindanao. Hindi po peaceful dahil tahimik, dahil hindi nagsasalita dahil sa takot, at yung nagsasalita ay pinapatay, inaaresto ng walang warrant of arrest," Valle said.

Valle estimated that 30 schools experienced military encampment and 19 schools were destroyed after Duterte threatened to bomb lumad schools.

He added that 2,000 students were unable to graduate or undergo their moving-up ceremony this school year after 56 schools were forcibly shut down by military and local government units.

"Kasama pa sa trending na natala ng [SOS] yung 16 incidents of forcible surenderees, meaning pwinersa yung katutubo, yung mga lumad, na mag-portray bilang NPA surrenders pero sa katunayan sila ay mga teachers, mga parents, mga magsasaka," Valle said.

Lack of trust in gov't

Katribu Secretary General Pya Macliing Malayao said that indigenous communities feel more emboldened to speak out against the injustices committed against them as these atrocities continue to escalate.

"Hindi yung kawalang pag-asa yung nararamdaman eh. Parang mas yung pangangailangan para kumilos at lumaban, aktwal na lumaban," she said.

"Kaya kung magpapatuloy ang ganitong kalagayan sa buong bansa, parang agitated na yung communities, lalo na yung mga nakaranas ng matinding pambobomba, ilang beses nang napalikas, inaresto yung mga leaders, mga kamag-anak nila, dahil sa gawang-gawang kaso."

Malayao said it was important for the lumad community's struggles to be made public as they run out of ways to defend their human rights and rights over their ancestral land.

"Gusto nilang nakawin o kunin yung mga natitirang rekurso sa aming mga lupang ninuno," she said.

Despite the government's best efforts, Malayao said, the damage was done as the attacks caused communities to constantly fear for their lives and the future of their children, and sowed mistrust towards a government that promised them change.

"Wala na talagang tiwala. Wala nang tiwala sa mga pangakong binitawan. Nailantad naman na, through his actions, his proclamations, policies ng mismong gobyerno kung ano ang karakter ng current administration," she said.

Corpuz suggested to IP groups displaced by the ongoing crisis to reach out to Cecilia Jimenez-Damary, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons.

Both Corpuz and Damary warned the Duterte administration that "massive," "potentially irreversible" abuses of IP human rights may intensify under extended martial law. — BM, GMA News