A group of militant lawmakers on Saturday criticized a fellow solon after reportedly disrespecting indigenous peoples in Mindanao.
Satur Ocampo, former Bayan Muna representative and Makabayan president, said in a statement that congresswoman Nancy Catamco was with other lawmakers in Davao City, facilitating a dialogue with indigenous peoples when the incident happened.
Catamco is the representative of North Cotabato and chair of the House Committee on Indigenous Peoples and Cultural Communities.
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Earlier reports said the lumad evacuated to the city because of alleged harassment by the military.
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“Instead of facilitating the dialogue and evincing empathy towards the Lumad, Rep. Catamco made derogatory and humiliating statements against the evacuees, their tribal leaders and support groups,” read the joint statement of the group, composed of Bayan Muna, Gabriela, Anakpawis, ACT Teachers, Kabataan and other groups.
Catamco was quoted saying in Bisaya, “Panguli na mo kay baho na kayo mo diri. (Translated by the Makabayan group as: You should go back to your homes because you are already stinky here).”
“She tried to entice the evacuees to go home by telling them packed lunch and buses had been prepared for them…And she maliciously asked several participants in the dialogue if they were members of the NPA or of NGOs,” the statement said. “What she did was not only uncalled for—it was insensitive, insulting to the very people her legislative committee is supposed to look after.”
A couple of netizens posted video and audio clips of the incident on Youtube. However, there are no translations to Filipino or English.
Ocampo said Catamco also lashed out at Bayan Muna Representative Carlos Zarate during the dialogue.
“I’m not talking to you,” she reportedly told Zarate, who later walked out with the group of lumad, which refers to the indigenous peoples of Mindanao.
Ocampo said Catamco shouldn’t have invited the1003rd Brigade, 10th Infantry Division of the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ (AFP) Eastern Mindanao Command, which have been accused of “harassing, intimidating, and subjecting them to immeasurable hardship, repeatedly impelling them to leave their communities and seek sanctuary in Davao City and elsewhere.”
He said Catamco, together with lawmakers from the Makabayan bloc, was invited to join a fact finding mission on reported human rights violations committed in Southern Mindanao.
The group visited Cateel, Davao Oriental on July 13 and met with lumad evacuees who complained of harassment and vilification by the AFP.
Catamco suggested having a meeting between the lumads and the National Commission of Indigenous Peoples. Instead, it was the military that attended the dialogue.
“She manipulated the whole dialogue and dominated the discussions. She tried to stop the evacuees from expressing their real sentiments and narrating the violations committed against them by the military,” Ocampo said.
He called the dialogue a “mockery” since it failed to address the issues at hand.
“The evacuees from Talaingod, Kapalong, Davao Del Norte, and from San Fernando, Bukidnon have sought refuge at the UCCP Haran compound after enduring repeated threats, harassments and varied forms of abuses by the 68th IB military personnel in their respective areas. Some of them were forced by the military to join the paramilitary group ALAMARA or the CAFGU,” the former lawmaker said.
The Makabayan bloc said the military should pullout from the area of the lumad. “We support their right to assert and defend their way of life, their dignity, and their ancestral domain against all those who covet the rich resources it holds,” Ocampo said. KS/IDL