Cordillera Day delegates decry harassment at checkpoint

Balbalan town in Kalinga (Google maps)

BALBALAN, Kalinga — Delegates to the 33rd Cordillera Day celebration here were held for an hour on Sunday (April 23), along the road at Barangay (village) Balantoy by the police and Army soldiers who were told to watch out for insurgents at a checkpoint.

The police flagged down a convoy of 12 jeepneys and a minibus and informed the delegates they were conducting inspections there to ensure peace and security.

But the police and Army officers detained the minibus and jeep ferrying the Ifugao delegation, and searched the personal belongings of Brandon Lee, a member of the Ifugao Peasant Movement.

Lee said the soldiers first looked for Kennedy Bangibang, the consultant for Cordillera and national minority affairs of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, the political wing and the negotiator of the Communist Party of the Philippines in peace talks with the Philippine government.

Lee said an Army officer then asked for his identification documents, and was asked to step off the bus.

Lee refused to leave the bus and asked for a search warrant when the officers demanded to search his belongings.

A police officer showed Lee a text message ordering the the police and military to hold the minibus and look for him, “Fernando Alikes,” and a “Ka Sarah.”

“All the description of me in the text message, from my hair to my beard and six pocket pants were correct except for the color of my shoes,” Lee said.

Lee said the Ifugao delegation was allowed to proceed after Lee finally allowed them to search his bag. “We were already held for nearly an hour and it was already late in the evening, so I showed them the contents of my bag against my will just so we could get through,” he said.

In 2015, Lee was among the IPM organizers who reported receiving death threats.

The Cordillera Day program opened on Monday (April 24).

Windel Bolinget, chair of the Cordillera People’ Alliance, which has been organizing the annual Cordillera Day celebrations, said community complaints about the continuing militarization of Balbalan town was among the reasons why Cordillera Day 2017 was held here.  SFM/rga