MANILA, Philippines — Several gunshots were fired against the camp of presidential candidate and labor leader Ka Leody de Guzman when they visited the ancestral land of the Manobo tribe in Quezon, Bukidnon on Tuesday, the Partido Lakas ng Masa (PLM) confirmed.
In a statement, PLM said that the meeting of De Guzman and his slate with the leaders of the Manobo-Pulangiyon tribe in Barangay Butong were disturbed by gunshots.
There were injured individuals during the shooting incident, PLM said. In a tweet, De Guzman said that two individuals sustained gunshot wounds — farmer group organizer Nanie Abela who was just beside the presidential bet when the shooting happened, and a leader of the Manobo-Pulangiyon tribe.
De Guzman was unharmed in the incident.
“Salamat sa mga nag-alala. Ako po at sila kasamang Roy Cabonegro at David D’angelo ay ligtas,” he said in the tweet.
“Ang tinamaan ay ang nasa tabi ko, si Nanie Abela, na organizer ng mga magsasaka sa Mindanao. Casualty rin ang isang lider ng tribong Manobo-Pulangiyon,” he added.
Salamat sa mga nag-alala. Ako po at sila kasamang Roy Cabonegro at David D'angelo ay ligtas.
Ang tinamaan ay ang nasa tabi ko, si Nanie Abela, na organizer ng mga magsasaka sa Mindanao. Casualty rin ang isang lider ng tribong Manobo-Pulangiyon.
— Ka Leody de Guzman (@LeodyManggagawa) April 19, 2022
The shooting comes as the tribe protested the alleged land-grabbing incident of their ancestral land.
“Inirereklamo ng naturang tribo ang landgrabbing sa kanilang ancestral land. Naiulat na may ilang tinamaan sa insidente, kasama ang lokal na organizer ng mga magsasaka at lider ng mga Manobo-Pulangiyon,” PLM said.
“Kapayapaan sa Mindanao! Igalang ang karapatan ng mga indigenous people at Bangsa Moro,” said in another tweet.
Shots were heard around the 16-minute mark of the live stream shared by senatorial aspirant David D’Angelo, prompting people in the area to lie face down to avoid bullets. A separate video uploaded by D’Angelo also showed De Guzman’s team rushing to bring the wounded to the hospital.
This is a developing story. Please refresh for updates.
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