AFP accuses militant groups of misinforming public on Lumad issues

Members of the Lumad community RYAN LEAGOGO/INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) condemned on Friday the actions of several militant groups, which are reportedly disseminating propaganda to Lumad communities in order to degrade the image of the military regarding issues on indigenous people (IP) like the Lumads.

In a statement, AFP Public Affairs Office chief Col. Edgar Arevalo denied information that they were militarizing the Lumads and that their soldiers were abusing Lumad evacuees now holed up at the University of the Philippines in Diliman.

“Left-leaning organizations… distort the facts and circumstances in which the Lumads are forced to evacuate their homes, blaming instead the government’s legitimate peace and security operations,” Arevalo said.

“We condemn any action that uses the Lumads for propaganda against the government,” he added.

Last Monday, Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate blamed the AFP for disturbing the IP and the Lumad community, saying they received internal reports from AFP that military personnel were forcing Lumad evacuees to go back to Mindanao.

But Arevalo pointed to the New People’s Army (NPA) as the perpetrators of such misinformation, claiming the rebels were the ones militarizing the Lumads.

“The NPA (members) have militarized these areas by setting up camps and by using Lumad schools for indoctrinating, agitating, and recruiting new cadres,” Arevalo said.

Zarate also recalled the incident last 2015 when Lumads sought refuge at the United Church for Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) in Davao, where military and police forces threatened to burn the evacuation center.

Arevalo, however, said Lumad leaders filed an affidavit on Unified Declaration of Tribal Leaders of Talaingod, Davao Del Norte, saying it was the militant group members who abused and exploited them during the UCCP-Haran incident in 2015.

“This UCCP-Haran incident in 2015 is unacceptable as these actions endanger the lives of Lumads, particularly their women and children, and disrupt their way of life,” he said. Theodore Jason Patrick K. Ortiz / JPV