Krisis Manilakbayan 2015

FRI 06 NOVEMBER 2015 ISSUE 03 A.Y. 2015 - 2016

KRISIS presents UPJC’s take on the Philippine situation via news articles, news analyses, editorials and feature articles on current political issues.

Krisis

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MANILAKBAYAN ISSUE

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Police presence only a matter of security--QCPD Felicia Recto

Despite multiple reports of military and police presence during the Manilakbayan Kampuhan in UP Diliman, the Quezon City Police Department Station 9 (QCPD) denied violations of any prior agreement made by the university with regards to state security forces entering the campus.

In 1989, then UP President Jose Abueva and the Department of National Defense Secretary Fidel Ramos signed an agreement, commonly referred to as the SotoEnrile Accord, which prohibits military operations in any of the UP campuses without prior notification.

SPO2 Robert Cajiles, head of the QCPD Investigation Division, said in an interview on Nov. 4 the patrol sent on October 27 and 28 was only a “matter of security” and therefore not to be considered as military operations. Cajiles said only the UP Diliman Police (UPDP) is in charge of handling the Lumad.

The university hosted a weeklong camp from Oct. 26 to Nov. 1 to accommodate 700 Lumad from Mindanao as part of the Manilakbayan 2015. The event was organized by several organizations within the university to campaign against the militarization of indigenous groups around the country.

“UP is under our AOR (area of responsibility) [...] and the only concern there is the security and preparation of the UP police for the totality of peace and order in the campus,” he said in Filipino.

Cajiles added the UPDP have been notified of the two QCPD officers’ presence in the Kampuhan, which justified their entry according to a 2015 Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) made between the QCPD station, UP Diliman Chancellor Michael Tan, and the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Neil Santillan.

On Oct. 27 at 8:30 a.m., two POLICE

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LIBRO HINDI BALA. Lumad leaders stage a protest with other organizations at the University of the Philippines academic oval, Oct. 27 More than 700 Lumad stayed near the university grounds to condemn military harassment in their schools and communities, and the killing of their leaders. Photo by Kenneth Gutlay | UPJC

MIND OVER TERROR: The Lumad struggle for education Nica Cruz and Maverick Russel Flores

Inside the UP Diliman campus sits the Lumad Kampuhan, where folk music, colorful streamers, makeshift tents and noisy flocks of students shelter the 17-yearold Michelle Campos. Amidst the joy and laughter from both the welcoming crowd and her tribesmen, Michelle still fails to find the comfort of home.

Like the students visiting their camp, Michelle was supposedly finishing her degree at the Surigao Del Sur State University.

Despite repeatedly conversing for hours with students and visitors alike, Michelle sits bright-eyed as she once again tells her story -- how she graduated from the Alternative Learning Center for Agricultural and Livelihood Development, Inc. (ALCADEV), and in an effort to give back to the school and her fellow Lumad, took up BS Secondary Education.

It was, however, in the middle of this endeavor that the incident that spurred their tribe’s march to Manila struck Michelle and her community.

The night before the Magahat-

Bagani paramilitary unit attacked, military men jokingly warned the students of ALCADEV that a wakwak was coming. In Lumad tradition, said Michelle, the wakwak is an assassin, someone willing to kill his target at whatever cost. The community did not believe this warning.

At daybreak on Sept. 1, 2015, the paramilitary knocked on the doors around ALCADEV, and the surprised Lumad were gathered at the nearby basketball court.

There, Michelle’s father and Maluhutayong Pakigbisog Alang Sumusunod (MAPASU, or the Persevering Struggle for the Next Generation) chairperson Dionel Campos was shot down.

“The paramilitary [leader] Bobby Tejero even spoke with my father. People even saw them laughing and smoking cigarettes.

Suddenly, Tejero shouted drop, and at the third time when Papa dropped, the shots came [...] and my younger siblings saw it,” Michelle said in Filipino.

Manobo leader Datu Juvello Sinzo died minutes later after being

gunned down, while ALCADEV executive director Emerito Samarca, tagged as a New People’s Army leader, was brutally slain in one of the school’s buildings.

Michelle, upon learning what happened, left her university and joined the evacuation or “bakwit” that followed the killings. And this was not the first time the community has had to bakwit from military and paramilitary threat, she said.

Since 2005, the Lumad have evacuated biennially. Back in 2009, members of the military lived under their house, used their kitchen and threatened that they would be killed if they dared to till their fields.

“We had nothing to eat,” said Michelle in Filipino. “They wouldn’t let the rice from the city reach the mountains, because the military said it was ‘support from the NPA.’” However, Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares said military presence and harassment in Mindanao was not only meant to purge the NPA, but to protect the interests of mining and agricultural corporations ransacking the rich lands.

EDUCATION

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ISSUE 3 A.Y. 2015 - 2016

EDITORIAL

The military in Mindanao has given nothing but nightmare to the Lumad, who were forced to close down their schools and abandon their lands after threats, harrassments, human rights violations, and worst— killings.

Since May, more than 700 Lumad have been displaced from their ancestral land in Talaingod, Davao del Norte after being targeted by government forces and Alamara, an anti-communist paramilitary group. At least 24 primary and secondary schools were also closed down because of this and the teachers received death threats.

In July 23, policemen and government agents conducted a “rescue operation” to force the Lumad to return to their homes in Haran Center, Davao City where the natives evacuated.

The operation resulted in at least 17 Lumad and two policemen injured.

But the armed forces never stopped with injuries. Five Manobo Lumad were killed on Aug. 18 by the military’s Special Forces in Bukidnon who claimed those killed were rebels, which the New People’s Army (NPA) refuted, saying they were civilians. On Sept. 1, three Lumad leaders were brutally killed in Surigao del Sur, allegedly by the military as well.

Despite the attacks, the Lumad continues in the campaign against human rights abuses in the mountain communities and were calling for armed groups, especially the military, not to occupy civilian villages.

Why the Lumad are gunned down one by one remains a question for the tribe, along with

Illustration by Raiza Javier

the hope of justice for the slain.

In their journey away from the false promise of protection, the Lumad tell the stories of over extraction of natural resources from their ancestral lands. They have been actively campaigning against mining, logging and land conversion— activities that manufacture export-oriented products they do not reap benefits from.

Military presence is justified with the growing existence of these huge companies. The government continues to protect the interests

Editor-in-Chief

Ironic, when the people whose mandate is to protect you turn out to be the ones you fear will cause you harm

and the Department of National Defense that bans military forces from entering the university premises. The army apologized to the university, yet the fact remains that an agreement pertaining to security was violated and the parties failed to comply.

Even during the Manilakbayan caravan, the Lumad still feared for their safety, watching out now and then for threats hiding in plain sight. Ironic, when the people whose mandate is to protect you turn out to be the ones you fear will cause you harm.

Until the government, whom the Lumad decided to visit in their journey to the nation’s capital, takes an action to stop these wrongdoings, the armed men in Mindanao will continue to drive the Lumad away from their rightful home.▪

Krisis Issue 3 A.Y. 2015 - 2016

Editorial Board

Maria Nicole Cortez

of capitalist foreigners whilst it disregards the rights of the indigenous people.

The Lumad are not alone in their exodus, though.

Aside from students and other organizations which has the same call, they are also ironically joined by the very people they are trying to escape from: the military.

S t u d e n t publications reported armed men have been wandering before and during the Manilakbayan camp in UP Diliman.

This despite the Soto-Enrile accord, an agreement between UP

Luisa Morales Associate Editor

Meeko Camba, Shara Cayetano, Maisie Joven, Yves Briones Editors

issuu.com/upjournalismclub

Yvette Morales

VP for Academic Affairs

Kenneth Gutlay Layout Artist

ISSUE 3 A.Y. 2015 - 2016 1

POLICE

police officers from QCPD Station 9 were spotted at the Manilakbayan Kampuhan, located near the College of Human Kinetics, according to the Philippine Collegian. The police officers were allegedly requesting for the schedule of the camp’s activities before they were brought to the UPDP. On Wednesday evening, Oct. 28, the Philippine Collegian reported two more QCPD police officers were spotted near Palma Hall during the candle-lighting and solidarity activity held for the Lumad. Student Regent Miguel Enrico Pangalangan said the officers were unable to answer clearly when asked by the students what their purpose was for being in the campus, their names, and the name of their head officer.

Even in the week prior to the Manilakbayan, there have been reports of military activity within the campus. According to another report by the Philippine Collegian, on October 21, the UPDP and Special Services Brigade (SSB) intercepted six military agents who were allegedly doing surveillance work around the campus at around 4pm. The agents, who arrived inside the campus on two motorcycles, a Toyota Innova, and another unidentified vehicle, according to eyewitnesses, were arrested by the SSB in front of Vinzons Hall.

However, Cajiles said the QCPD had no knowledge of the incident and did not arrest anyone from the military that day.

Chancellor Tan, through an official statement made on Oct. 22, expressed a deep concern over the incident. He said one of the concerns is committing a “a violation of a provision in the agreement between the university and the DND, as no formal request has been received by the university.

Cajiles, however, mentioned the memorandum of agreement (MOA) was undergoing revision and the QCPD have been speaking with Chancellor Tan regarding the revisions. He also confirmed the agreement is rendered “moot and academic” as long as the UPDP and Chancellor Tan are informed of the QCPD officer’s presence within the campus.▪

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The Lumad struggle: A matter of land and life Alyssa Divina

For 40-year-old Mary Jane Pedochino, a member of the B’laan tribe from Davao del Sur, farming is not just a source of livelihood, but rather a reflection of culture and way of life.

There was no hunger. They would plant corn, banana and sweet potato, which would be later sold to the town center. They would use their earnings to buy house furniture. It was quiet and simple.

But since the military presence in their communities increased, things have been different.

Recounting cases of killings, torture and kidnappings done by the military, Pedochino said they were often accused of being members of the New People’s Army (NPA), or of helping them by giving out food supply. She said the military would respond by taking their crops.

“We were often harassed by the military. Since 2007, our communities have not been peaceful. We would constantly

evacuate from one place to another,” she said in Filipino.

They have been relocated to a land that is being leased to them by the government under a 30-year contract. However, there is a catch: if they fail to pay the fees, the land will be withdrawn from them.

The mountains are empty and deserted for almost seven years now, she said. What confounds her though is the construction of a two-lane concrete road leading to the mountains, despite the fact that nobody lives there anymore.

But Pedochino said the Lumad experienced more aside from threats of military harassment.

They are also endangered by environmental pitfalls due to the escalation of mining activities. “[Ku]kunin nila ‘yung aming ancestral domain, ‘yun ang ayaw talaga namin... paano na lang ‘yung kultura namin? Hindi na namin mapangangalagaan,” Pedochino said.

Despite being away from home, the Lumad still tries to preserve what they can during the cultural festival last Oct. 29, which was part of the week-long Manilakbayan 2015. “[Mahalaga na] i-preserve namin ‘yung kultural na gawi namin bilang Lumad para maibalik sa amin ‘yung pangangalaga sa ancestral domain namin,” she said.

In the event that their ancestral domain will be taken away from them, their tribal clothes - and even themselves - will be “taken to trash”, she said in Filipino.

Dialogues with the government were held in the past but no help came their way. Still, she remains hopeful.

“Sana naman...may sagot sila.

Kay Pres. Noynoy [Aquino] naman, sana bigyan niya kami ng isa [pang] pagkakataon bilang mga Lumad, ibigay naman niya ang karapat-dapat sa amin,” Pedochino said.▪

WARM WELCOME. A man plays a string instrument at a press conference held at the University of the Philippines Palma Hall Steps, Oct 27. The performance came in part with the their offering of a live hen, and the welcoming of the Lumad by the university community. Photo by Kenneth Gutlay | UPJC

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ISSUE 3 A.Y. 2015 - 2016

Product of the Philippines: Lumad resist agribusiness intrusions in Mindanao Christelle Delvo Canned fruit, juice boxes and ketchup bottles on most families’ kitchen shelves are labeled products of the Philippines, tracing them to their origins in the vast plantations of South Cotabato, Cagayan de Oro or Bukidnon.

The past week saw the height of the Manilakbayan protest caravan where various sectors based in Mindanao braved nine days of travel over land and sea to the Philippine capital, to tell stories of their remote communities’ most pressing plights which include militarization, seizure of ancestral lands by mining companies and agricultural businesses, and exploitation of the Lumad and peasants.

Manobo tribe leader Datu Juanito Binaton of Kitaotao, Bukidnon largely depends on small-scale agriculture for livelihood. But he is just one of 200 families displaced by growing militarization of their community last August.

Forced evacuation has become a norm to the point that they are no longer able to harvest their crops, Binaton said.

They used to plant staples like corn and rice, where agribusinesses now plant bananas and palm oil. Binaton often wonders why, especially considering they do not readily eat palm oil. The Cavendish banana is also different from their own, as this banana variety is produced with agrochemicals to meet demands in China, Japan, Korea, Middle East and New Zealand.

Sister Mary Jane Caspillo of RMP echoes a similar sentiment.

“If the Lumad get their land back, they won’t plant just for themselves but also for the entire Philippines. They’ll plant grain, rice...We do not eat only pineapples and bananas,” Caspillo said in Filipino.

According to newly-created Resisting Expansion of Agricultural Plantations (REAP) in Mindanao, an organization launched by farmers which aims to combat the aggressive expansion of plantations, at least 500,000 hectares of Mindanao’s agricultural land are covered by export crops like rubber, sugarcane, banana, pineapple and palm oil under the monopoly of 50 or so private corporations.

Leading examples of these are multinational companies DOLE and Del Monte, which produce 20 percent of the world’s fresh fruits, all while their vast banana and pineapple plantations are said to intrude upon ancestral lands of the Lumad.

Majority of Del Monte’s assets, including a 15,000-hectare pineapple plantation, are in the Philippines. Their expansion in the 1980s was a response

to the Marcos government’s promotion of national and foreign investment in agricultural export, Del Monte Chief Executive Officer Robert Landis said in a New Internationalist magazine report. Such programs are in the breath of an export-led economic growth as envisioned by the World Bank.

The same applies in present regulatory laws and bodies that manage, if not ease, the entry and operations of local and foreign corporations. There are 25 recorded firms operating in Bukidnon; 13 in Davao Del Norte, 16 in Cagayan de Oro, 34 in Davao City, and the list goes on.

Elsewhere, REAP reports the people are made agricultural workers in lands they were supposedly awarded with through the government’s land reform program. Beneficiaries have been swayed to lease their lands under unjust contracts, leaving them with rent equivalent to P166 a month per hectare and are subjected to wages as low as P235 a day.

Datu Jomorito Goaynon, a Lumad leader, laments how the expansion of agricultural plantations in the farmlands and of mining operations in the mountains have displaced 40,000 Lumad in Mindanao.

“We are not against development, we are against [corporations] that disrespect our land and traditions,” Goaynon said. —with reports from Julia Danielle Maaño▪ 1

LIWANAG SA DILIMAN. Two men light candles at a vigil at the Palma Hall steps, Oct. 28. The candle-lighting event served as an act of solidarity between the Lumad and the university community. Photo by Kenneth Gutlay | UPJC

EDUCATION

“Just for the profit of plantations and mining firms, you’ll kill a lot of people?

You’ll destroy the schools? And to think the government is tolerating all of this makes it twice as horrible, because they are already defenseless against these corporations,” Colmenares said in Filipino.

During a House interpolation session, Colmenares said the Department of National Defense (DND) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) even admitted to knowing there are paramilitary forces in Mindanao and they have unlicensed arms. He also learned the government has not made an effort to sanction these forces.

As long as the harassment and their perpetrators persist, the Lumad, fearing for their lives, will stay in their evacuation centers.

Despite donations and support from numerous organizations, churches and the Department of Social Work and Development (DSWD), however, the continuing exodus robs the Lumad of

their normal way of life. Michelle said the Lumad were used to toiling for their food and not just sitting around all day.

But if they kept one thing, it is their thirst for education, which, as Michelle said, did not die with Samarca.

“When ALCADEV was founded, the Lumad became more aware. We learned about our rights, why we need to stand for our ancestral land. They thought that if they killed the director, the school will cease to operate, the Lumad and next generations will become illiterate and weak,” she said in Filipino.

But they were wrong. Education continues even at the evacuation center, where tents have been set up for elementary and high school classes.

“Every Wednesday is their [Physical Education] day, they play volleyball, basketball, then whatever the children think of doing, they’re free [to do],” she said in Filipino.

Now that Michelle and her tribesmen are in UP Diliman, she reminds us the

“Iskolar ng Bayan” must be aware not only of the crises happening in the city, but in the far-flung areas of the Lumad as well, where they are directly affected by human rights violations.

“Jose Rizal calling us [youth] the “hope of the nation” is all for nothing if we will just play blind and deaf amid what’s happening in our society,” she said.

Despite all the dangers their community faces back in Mindanao, Michelle said the Manilakbayan must return home, where they are used to the environment and can protect the land of their forefathers.

And though she is hunted by the military, Michelle wants to continue her education and their struggle, so she may inspire others to do so as well.

“My target really is to give back. No one else will benefit from [education] other than our community itself,” Michelle said.

She added, “Until there is no justice for all that is happening in Mindanao, I will not stop [fighting], we will not stop [fighting].”▪