Soldiers, rebels equally to blame for killings, assert ‘lumad’ teachers

BAGUIO CITY—Government soldiers and communist rebels are equally to blame for the killings of the lumad in a conflict in which the indigenous peoples (IP) have no stake, according to lumad teachers attending a conference here.

The least the government can do for them is to include the lumad community in the peace process, said Lumad Mindanao interim chair Jimid Mansayagan, when he spoke at a Nov. 12 indigenous peoples education forum at Teachers Camp.

“Both sides are killing our people. We are caught in the middle of combat. And they have the gall to wage war without even securing our FPIC (Free, Prior and Informed Consent),” Mansayagan said in Filipino.

It was a reference to the mandatory consent certification which government agencies and businesses are required to obtain from the indigenous peoples for access to their ancestral lands.

“You have been hearing about lumad issues in the news these days, so I would like to explain to you that the lumad are not supporting the [extreme armed Left] nor are we lumad of the government. We are a lumad nation,” said Mansayagan.

The government must recognize each tribe and the territories of the lumad, which have 33 different unique tribes, he said.

All these distinct peoples should be regarded as “stakeholders of the peace process in this country,” he added.

Mansayagan said the lumad need to be part of talks that would help lead to the end of the conflicts in Mindanao because they are caught in the center of the violence.

Since May, newspapers have reported the displacement of whole communities from areas hosting lumad schools allegedly due to soldiers and paramilitary troops going after communist rebels there.

The issue escalated in September with the murder of a lumad school leader. Since October, lumad activists have camped out in Metro Manila to protest the militarization of their communities.

Without peace, there are no government programs to serve the lumad, which is why their participation is important in future talks, Mansayagan said.

He was part of a delegation of Mindanao educators at last week’s forum where Education Secretary Armin Luistro championed the indigenous peoples’ folk wisdom as a key element in enhancing the K-12 basic education program.

Luistro said the traditional knowledge imparted by IP elders could be translated and incorporated into the basic school curricula to help school children embrace their Filipino identity.

But to do so, the government would need to acknowledge the fact that the indigenous peoples are composed of various cultures and are not a homogenous entity, said Mansayagan.

“Lumad Mindanaw’s framework for advocating Lumad rights is ‘one tribe, one territory, one governance,’” he said.

He said the government should address the concerns of each lumad tribe according to its distinct history and needs, and not try to solve their problems as a unified lumad culture which, he noted, did not exist.