Activists march in Davao to mark Human Rights Day

KEITH BACONGCO, GMANews.TV DAVAO CITY – Activists marched in the streets of the city on Monday to mark the 59th year of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Human rights groups here called on the government to stop deploying soldiers in Mindanao and demanded that the military surface missing activists. The Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center-Kasama sa Kalikasan, a policy advocacy group, also called on the government to stop the "militarization" in the hinterlands of Surigao del Sur. In a statement, the LRC-KsK said "the lumads (natives) of Surigao del Sur have been forcibly dispersed from their villages and are scampering for their lives and safety...as their communities are being targeted for large-scale mining operations." The military has launched full-scale military operations against the communist New Peoples Army (NPA) in the hinterlands of Lianga, Suriago del Sur, late last month. The military operations resulted in the displacement of about 2,000 residents who were evacuated in gymnasiums and classrooms in the nearby town of San Agustin, also in Surigao del Sur. "The unfolding human rights tragedy that is taking place in Surigao del Sur and the callousness of government to the plight of indigenous peoples and rural communities—are similarly occurring, if not being replicated in other parts of the country where resistance communities are staunchly warding off mining, plantation and big business incursions into their lands," the LRC-KsK said in its statement. Catholic nun Lydia Lazcano, Social Action director of the Diocese of Tandag, claimed that the upsurge of military operations in Surigao del Sur is in preparation for the full-scale operation of mining companies in the area. Laczano said mining permits have been sought for some 191,482 hectares of land. Commercial logging concessions also operate in 191,482.07 hectares. The LRC-KsK called on the government to stop "its war and polices of death and destruction" against the lumads of Mindanao. "It must immediately stop military operations in Surigao del Sur and other indigenous lands. It must stop large-scale and destructive mining projects, particularly those opposed by the affected communities," the organization said in a statement. - GMANews.TV