Bukid Apo: PASAKA scores Quiboloy, 84th IB soldiers for bulldozing ancestral lands

Saturday, April 23, 2011

PASAKA scores Quiboloy, 84th IB soldiers for bulldozing ancestral lands

PRESS RELEASE:

DAVAO CITY-- Three years after their datu leader was killed, the Kahugpongan sa mga Lumad (KSL) together with PASAKA Regional Confederation of Lumad Organizations in Southern Mindanao in a press conference today condemned the latest threats and harassment by forces believed to be Pastor Apollo Quiboloy's private army and the military soldiers under 84th Infantry Battalion against the Bagobo-C'lata lumad residents in Sitio Kahusayan, Brgy. Manuel Guianga, Tugbok District.

Quiboloy ordered a road construction in the area, and just a day after 3 backhoe units were brought in the area, 84th IB soldiers also begun their patrol operations. Local residents scored Quiboloy for bulldozing ancestral lands in pursuit of his greedy desire to expand his prayer mountain and tourism project in Kahusayan, and even other villages in Brgy. Manuel Guianga.

“The land where Datu Domindor Diarog’s blood was spilled is the same land now being bulldozed by the same man who (allegedly) killed him,” said Diarog.

On April 29, 2008 armed-men encircled and opened fire at the house of the Diarog family killing Datu Dominador Diarog and wounding his wife and two children. Datu Diarog refused to sell his land to barangay officials who reportedly acted as dummies on behalf of Pastor Quiboloy

“We believe that the recent deployment of 84th IB elements prove how influential Quiboloy is in using for his vested interests the armed forces to secure his territorial expansion,” said Diolito Diarog, a Kahusayan leader and PASAKA Deputy Secretary General.

Pastor Quiboloy's human rights violation track-record base on the cases filed at Commission on Human Rights (CHR) office included land grabbing and massive human rights violations that were allegedly committed by former Tamayong Barangay Captain Greg Canada.

Documented human rights reports since 1997 in Brgy. Manuel Guianga revealed that his group/men/private armies have been responsible for the killing, indiscriminate firing, arson and other criminal acts to sow terror in the area and dislocate the lumad residents there. These atrocities were also used to justify full-scale military operations.

PASAKA is now calling for the immediate intervention of the Davao City government and urged the City Council to conduct a probe on the reported incidents in Sitio Kahusayan.

The City Council conducted an investigation a few years ago on the reported land dispute case being the motive behind the killing of Datu Dominador Diarog in 2008 and the continued land grabbing by the “influential” group of Quiboloy. City Council resolutions ordered the status quo of “fences” around areas grabbed by Quiboloy from the lumads until lands had been surveyed but still the fences were moved and even built stronger by Quiboloy’s men.

“Gipahilom lang gamay ang isyu unya ania nagsige og balik balik, nagsige man gihapon ang pagpanghasi,pagpanghulga sa mga lumulupyo diri ug klaro nga dili gyud ni sila moundang hangtod di nila mailog kanamo ang among yutang kabilin mao nga hangtod karon namuyo kami sa kawalay kasigurohan,” Diarog pointed out.

He also noted that it is evident that the recent deployment of military soldiers under 84th IB is apparently being used to sow terror among the people especially that these elements have forcibly recruited the local residents to join the Barangay Defense System and wanted to use the Lumads in its counter-insurgency campaign.

“The AFP has bartadized our culture, exploiting lumads while they show their bias and loyalty to the influential, powerful and rich,” Diarog said.

“But despite this recent attacks on our human rights, we will never give up our struggle in regaining and defending our ancestral lands that our ancestors and Datu Doming Diarog fought and died for, it has been 3 years now since his death but we continue to call for justice for Datu Doming Diarog and respect the rights of the lumads,” Diarog said.

KSL together with PASAKA will commemorate Datu Doming Diarog's death Anniversary with a series of activities starting next week.#

For reference:

DIOLETO DIAROG
Deputy Secretary General
PASAKA
Contact Number: 09303035126

No comments:

Welcome to my Blog

This Blog is intended to publish some of my news articles as a freelance journalist.

This has also been designed to show some other services I offer to friends and clients, among them are:
1) Events organizing
2) Organizing tours in Mindanao. It can be to tourist destinations in Southern Philippines or other specific locations and interests, like farms, media coverage in specific areas in the island, and the likes.
3) Vehicle rental
4) Photo and video documentary production
5) Communications-related consulting jobs

News Archieve

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

Saturday, April 23, 2011

PASAKA scores Quiboloy, 84th IB soldiers for bulldozing ancestral lands

No comments:

Post a Comment

News Archieve

Popular Posts

Popular Posts

About Me

Blog Archive