Albayalde turns down Lumad leader’s request for arms
Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Director General Oscar Albayalde on Wednesday turned down a tribal leader’s request to be allowed to carry firearms for self-defense against threats from communist rebels.
Albayalde said that instead of giving them firearms, authorities would conduct more frequent patrols and enhance police visibility to ward off any attacks against the indigenous people.
“Although hindi natin sila pwedeng pagbigyan doon sa sinsasabi nila na armas, lalong-lalo na kung ilegal iyan, mabigyan lang siguro natin sila ng karampatang proteksyon by way of patrolling in the area,” he said in a press briefing after a meeting with the Lumad at Camp Crame.
(Although we cannot aapprove their request for arms, we can give the protection by way of patrolling the area.)
“Binibisitahan natin iyong kanilang mga lugar, hindi lang iyon mga AFP kung hindi pati iyong mga PNP lalong-lalo na iyong mga mobile troops natin,” he added.
(We will patrol their areas more often. This will involve not just the PNP but also the AFP, especially our mobile troops.)
According to the Lumad youth present in the meeting, members of the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) have recruited them through alternative learning institutions such as TRIFPSS and Alcadev.
Lipatuan Joel Unad, Chairman of Tribung Uno Manovo, explained that people who did not want to join, or those who want to leave the armed struggle are threatened to be killed.
Unad also took issue with the decision of some leftist parties to bring the Lumad with them, especially children, and exploit them for certain advocacies. However, he clarified that their request for firearms was not to kill people, as they would rather file cases in court.
“Sino-sino ba iyong mga nagbitbit sa mga bata? Iyan ang kikilalanin namin, kasi gusto naming kasuhan sila, ang violation nila iyong pag-giba ng aming kultura, iyong pag-violate sa integrity sa aming kultura,” he said.
(Who are these people bringing kids to rallies? We need to know who they are because we want to file cases against them for violating our culture and the integrity of our culture.)
“Ito iyong gusto naming makita sila, makilala namin para magkaroon kami ng kaso against sa kanila. Hindi naman namin sila patayin, hindi naman payag si Sir (Albayalde) na magbitbit kami ng armas, mag-file lang kami ng kaso sa Korte Suprema,” he explained.
(This is what we want. We are not going to kill them because Mr. Albayalde does not want us to carry firearms, so we are just going to file cases at the Supreme Court.) /ee
