Bukid Apo: LUMADS PICKET QUIBOLOY KINGDOM AGAINST LANDGRABBING

Monday, April 25, 2011

LUMADS PICKET QUIBOLOY KINGDOM AGAINST LANDGRABBING

PRESS RELEASE

April 25, 2011

Davao City --- Angered by latest attempts of landgrabbing, Bagobo Klata lumads from farflung Sitio Kahusayan, Brgy. Manuel Guianga trooped to the city and staged a picket rally infront of the Pastor Apollo Quiboloy’s ‘kingdom’ consisting of a gigantic school, office and mansion near the International airport here.

Last week, the Kahugpungan sa Lumad sa Kahusayan (KSL) reported that three backhoes escorted by members of the 84th IB of the Philippine Army arrived in Kahusayan, around 50 km from downtown Davao, to bulldoze the ancestral lands of slain Kahusayan Datu Dominador Diarog and pave the way for a gherkins (small cucumber) plantation on the said land that is being claimed by Quiboloy.

“This intensified attack on our ancestral lands is a palpable act of greed by a landlord to acquire vast tracts of lands for his profit. We have already lost thousands of hectares of our ancestral lands when Quiboloy’s prayer mountain was constructed in 1999. Now we stand to be completely driven away from the small piece of land where we were pushed to stay, as Quiboloy’s pine trees and fences take over our traditional farms, place of worship and hunting grounds,” said Diolito Diarog, council member of KSL and Deputy Secretary General of PASAKA, regional confederation of lumads.

Pastor Apollo Quiboloy, the patriarch of the religious sect Kingdom of Jesus Christ, The Name Above Every Name, has occupied 5,000 hectares within a supposed protected area of Mt. Apo. Quiboloy’s Kingdom covers portions of Brgy. Tamayong, Brgy. Manuel Guianga, Brgy.Sirib, Brgy. Carmen in Davao City. Another forty hectares are occupied by Quiboloy’s pine tree plantation.

Widow of Datu Diarog, Emily Diarog lamented, “This April 29, we are about to commemorate the 3rd death anniversary of our tribal leader but instead of the justice that we seek, we are again faced with even greater threats of losing the land that he died for. This we cannot allow, even if I, my children or our tribe lose our lives to defend our land.”

Datu Diarog’s family and relatives believe that it was at the behest of the influential pastor that the Datu was killed. An attempted massacre on the evening of April 29 had ended the life of Datu Diarog leading also to the injury of his wife, and two children.

Kahusayan lumads have long been seeking the help of the local government and the Commission on Human Rights to dismantle the fences that Quiboloy has put up around “his” so-called kingdom as annointed Son of God, pushing the Bagobo Klata tribe of Sitio Kahusayan to occupy a mere 5-hectare lot in the foothills of Mt. Apo.

“Apo Sandawa passed on to us the stewardship to cultivate and protect these lands. Our forefathers have died faithful to this inheritance of stewardship. Datu Diarog’s death will not be in vain. We shall continue the struggle he committed his life to,” stated Diolito Diarog.

The Diarog family challenged the Davao City local government to strongly implement the resolutions, one of which is the status quo, after the Kahusayan residents urged Pastor Quiboloy to dismantle the fences that has deprived the Kahusayan lumads of their lands. #

FOR REFERENCE:

Diolito Diarog
Deputy Secretary General
PASAKA

Contact Number: 09303035126

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From The Times November 28, 2009 Philippines massacre: women thought they were safe. They were wrong Romy Elusfa in Ampatuan and Richard Lloyd Parry, Asia Editor He knew that powerful and ruthless people wanted him dead and that he was risking everything by standing for election — but to one practical challenge at least, Ismael Mangudadatu thought he had a solution. If he went in person to register as a candidate he would be inviting an attack by his enemies — the Ampatuan clan who have a near-monopoly on elected posts in the region. Instead, after consultation with his family and advisers, Mr Mangudadatu decided to send his wife and two sisters. The local police refused to provide an escort and the Philippines Army declined a request for protection. But how much harm could befall a group of women? For good measure, the two family lawyers who were women and Mr Mangudadatu’s aunt — who was pregnant, like one of his sisters — went along for the ride with other supporters and relatives. As a further safeguard, 27 journalists were invited. “Under our tradition, Muslim women are respected,” Mr Mangudadatu said. “They should not be harmed, just like innocent children and the elders. They will not harm us if journalists are watching.” Related Links Philippines leader 'shot massacre victims' Philippines massacre suspect arrested At 9.30am on Monday six minibuses began the drive from the town of Buluan to the provincial capital of Shariff Aguak. “This is women power in action,” Eden, Mr Mangudadatu’s sister, was heard to say. “Let’s help our men chart a better future for the province.” Within hours, she and her companions were dead. They had been bound, macheted, shot and buried in a mass grave. It is believed that some were raped. Political killings have been a part of life for centuries in the Philippines, and the southern island of Mindanao is the most violent of all. The attack, in which 57 people were killed, has raised questions about the relationship between the gangster clans such as the Ampatuan family and the highest levels of the Philippines metropolitan elite. Yesterday Andal Ampatuan Jr, the son of one of the most powerful men in Mindanao, was charged with seven counts of murder. “He was the one who gave the instructions,” Agnes Devanadera, the Justice Minister, said. “He was among those ... who killed the victims.” Until they were expelled this week, Mr Ampatuan and his father were important members of the ruling party of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, the President. Her Government has also moved against members of its security forces suspected of being complicit in the violence. According to the national police chief, Jesus Verzosa, six senior officers, including the provincial chief and his deputy, twenty officers of the Ampatuan police station and about four hunded members of a militia loyal to the Ampatuan family are in custody. Many Filipinos remain sceptical about the prospects for improvement. “He [Ampatuan Jr] can be a sacrificial mouse to spare the leopards behind the crime,” one Maguindanao man told The Times. “The most powerful people among the Ampatuans are still in government.” Three journalists survived the attack because they stopped at their hotel when the convoy was setting out. “The lady at the front desk told us that a motorcycle-riding man armed with a pistol came to ask for the names of journalists who checked in at the hotel,” said Aquiles Zonio, of the Philippine Daily Inquirer. They tried calling colleagues, but the hold-up had already taken place. The convoy was stopped about an hour into its journey, near the town that bears the Ampatuan family name. Some victims were able to send texts reporting that they had been stopped by about a hundred armed men. Police Chief Superintendent Felicisimo Khu said: “Twenty-four corpses were all killed by a firing squad. They were buried in six layers. Every layer is covered with earth, making it more difficult for the retrieval operations. I have asked myself why one of them has no underwear.” Ms Devanadera said: “Even the private parts of the women were shot at. It was done practically to all the women. All the women had their zippers undone. The pants of some were pulled down. We have yet to determine whether they were raped.” According to Mr Khu, the gunmen intercepted two vehicles with six people who happened to be travelling on the same road at the same time, and killed them too. “Some sustained multiple gunshot wounds — as many as eight,” said Benito Molina, a forensic examiner at the scene. “To judge from the blood, some of the corpses may have been buried while still alive.” Cooking pots belonging to the killers were found at the scene and they had taken with them a mechanical digger bearing the name of the local government. Its engine was still running when soldiers arrived. The brutality appears to have backfired on the Ampatuan clan: the intensity of public anger will ensure that no politician in Manila will court their friendship publicly in the election in May. It is little compensation for the loss of his family, but Mr Mangudadatu’s election prospects have been strengthened. “Only death can stop me from running,” he said yesterday when he filed his candidature for the regional governorship of Maguindanao, which is held by the brother of Mr Ampatuan Jr. “This symbolises our freedom. I hope this will be the start of our liberation.” The scale of the massacre may be unique, but its story — of violence, clans and corruption — is repeated across the Philippines. Father Eduardo Vasquez, a priest in Shariff Aguak, said: “If powerful and equally armed families like the Mangudadatus were killed in such a barbaric manner, how much more for the ordinary civilians who have already been traumatised by the war?” Clan power Andal Ampatuan Sr has four wives and thirty children. He has a private army of several hundred, permitted under a presidential executive order His extended family dominates the region’s politics. One son, Zaldy, is governor of the Muslim Mindanao The provincial capital Maganoy was renamed Shariff Aguak after Mr Ampatuan’s late father One of his sons and a nephew are its mayor and vice-mayor

Bukid Apo

Monday, April 25, 2011

LUMADS PICKET QUIBOLOY KINGDOM AGAINST LANDGRABBING

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