Lumad kid slain in Davao del Norte

DAVAO CITY — A 15-year-old Lumad was allegedly shot dead by a militiaman in the hinterlands of Talaingod, Davao del Norte last March 15, a spokesperson of child rights advocacy group said on Tuesday.

Rius Valles, spokesperson of Save Our Schools Network, identified the victim as Jerome Pangadas, a resident of Sitio Kamingawan, Barangay  Palma Gil, Talaingod.

Pangadas was a Grade 6 pupil of Salugpongan Ta ‘Tanu Igkanogon Community Learning Center.

Valles named a certain Eroy Balentin, a member of the Citizen Armed Force Geographical Unit (Cafgu), as the perpetrator of the killing.

Valles said Balentin opened fire at several houses in Sitio Kamingawan in Palma Gil around 6 p.m. on Friday, March 15. A bullet hit Pangadas’ head that caused his instant death while watching television in another house.

The human rights group Karapatan has condemned Pangadas’ killing.

“We strongly condemn the killing of yet another minor, a 15-year-old student at a community school in Mindanao … these killings are not isolated, but a systematic attack against indigenous and peasant communities who continue to raise legitimate demands for education, self-determination, and genuine land reform,” Karapatan Deputy Secretary-General Roneo Clamor said in a statement on Tuesday.

Clamor said lumad schools in Mindanao, including the students and teachers, were consistently being attacked under the Duterte administration.