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

House to probe rash of LRT, MRT mishaps

News Release

Office of Rep. Arnel U. Ty (LPG/MA)

Room 607 South Wing, House of Representatives, Constitution Hills, Quezon City, Tel No. 931-5144



As 44 firms beat deadline to bid for train operations April 24, 2011


House to probe rash of LRT, MRT mishaps



The House committee on transportation is set to investigate the spate of breakdowns and accidents that have weighed down Metro Manila’s elevated trains.



Rep. Arnel Ty of the party-list group LPG Marketers’ Association (LPGMA) has filed House Resolution1159, enabling the congressional inquiry.



“We have to root out these mishaps and malfunctions, in the interest of public safety. We want to avert potentially bigger disasters that might harm more commuters, whether as a direct result of an accident, or as an offshoot of an ensuing stampede among a crowd of passengers,” Ty said.



He cited the need for Congress to find ways to improve the safety and reliability of the overhead trains as highly efficient modes of public transportation.



In his resolution, Ty referred to the following incidents involving either the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) Line 3 or the Light Rail Transit (LRT) Line 1:



· The March 28 brake malfunction that brought a moving LRT Line 1 train to an abrupt halt, hurting four commuters who dashed out after smoke wafted over their coach;



· The March 21 detachment of a coach from an MRT Line 3 train after the coupling mechanism broke;



· The February 18 crash and derailment of two vacant LRT Line 1 trains after one of the drivers mistakenly switched tracks;



· The January 20 brake failure that suddenly stopped a moving MRT Line 3 train in the middle of the tracks; and



· The January 18 escalator breakdown at the MRT Line 3 Ayala station, which injured eight people.



In pushing for the House inquiry, Ty also pointed out that the wave of accidents and malfunctions have caused the trains financial losses due to delayed or suspended operations, lost fare revenue, repairs and higher insurance costs.



“These financial losses in turn have put the national government at a disadvantage, considering that it subsidizes the operations of the trains,” he said.



Ty filed his resolution shortly after the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) decided to relegate to the private sector the operation and maintenance of LRT Line 1 and MRT Line 3.



In newspaper notices, the DOTC invited interested parties to bid for the “outsourcing of the operation and maintenance” of the two train systems (excluding LRT Line 2) for a period of four years, extendable by one year.



A total of 44 foreign and local firms beat the April 15 deadline to submit expressions of interest to apply for eligibility and to bid.



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