Senate starts probe of ‘lumad’ plight

DAVAO CITY—The Senate will conduct an on-site investigation into the recent killings of three “lumad” leaders and displacement of residents in Surigao del Sur province on Oct. 1.

Senators Teofisto Guingona III, Koko Pimentel and Bam Aquino are expected to visit some 3,000 Manobo people who have fled their homes due to the presence of paramilitary forces and are now staying at a sports complex in Tandag City.

In a statement, Guingona, who is pushing for the legislation of Senate Bill 2368, which will decriminalize forced internal displacements in the country, said the lumad numbers “are dwindling” and described as a “national tragedy” if the country will lose its indigenous peoples.

He raised alarm over the ongoing rampage allegedly committed by paramilitary forces in the provinces of Bukidnon, Surigao del Sur, North Cotabato and Davao del Norte. He accused the militiamen of “decimating” the lumad in Mindanao.

The evacuees in Tandag came from the towns of Lianga, Marihatag, San Agustin, San Miguel and Tago. A majority of them are from the village of Diatagon, where the paramilitary group Magahat-Bagani reportedly killed three persons, including Emerito Samarca, executive director of Alternative Learning Center for Agricultural and Livelihood Development.

Also killed were lumad leaders Dionel Campos and Jovelo Bello Sinzo.

Surigao del Sur Gov. Johnny Pimentel and the local archdiocese earlier said the Magahat-Bagani force was created by the military for its counterinsurgency drive.

On Friday, Guingona appeared in a press forum along with a 16-year-old lumad who survived the Aug. 18 massacre in Pangatucan in Bukidnon. Five of the teenager’s relatives were killed, allegedly by soldiers, while he and his father were preparing breakfast.

The military had claimed that those killed were communist rebels and even congratulated the Special Forces for the “successful” operation. Later, the Army’s 4th Infantry Division recanted its press statements and blamed instead the communist New People’s Army for the deaths. Karlos Manlupig, Inquirer Mindanao