Military on ‘lumad’ UN raps: Prove them in court

The military on Friday blasted what it called the “disinformation campaign” by communist groups, a day after “lumad” (indigenous) groups held a video conference with United Nations Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Peoples Victoria Tauli-Corpuz to air complaints about the Duterte administration’s alleged human rights violations.

Lumad groups in Mindanao and their supporters told Corpuz that their communities continued to suffer from the government’s “red-tagging,” resulting in extrajudicial killings, as well as the strafing of their schools.

No less than President Duterte had threatened to bomb lumad schools for allegedly serving as communist fronts, they complained.

But in a statement on Friday, Col. Edgard Arevalo, spokesperson for the Armed Forces of the Philippines, bristled at the allegations, particularly the claim that military men had strafed and burnt down lumad schools.

‘Deception and lies’

“We challenge our accusers. Provide details: which schools, where, and when were the alleged acts committed,” Arevalo said.

“Those are serious allegations of criminal acts. And they should file appropriate cases in court. They should not resort to deception and lies,” he added.

The accusations, he said, were part of a disinformation campaign by the New People’s Army “to win back public support they have lost.”

During Thursday’s video conference at the Commission on Human Rights office in Quezon City, Tauli-Corpuz said she had every intention to communicate with the Duterte administration, but her efforts might be in vain, as she herself had been tagged as a communist by the government in a court petition by the Department of Justice.