The Manobo are several people groups who inhabit the island of Mindanao in the Philippines. They speak one of the languages belonging to the Manobo language family.
Their origins can be traced back to the early Malay peoples who came from the surrounding islands of Southeast Asia. Today, their common cultural language and Malay heritage help to keep them connected.
The Manobo cluster includes eight groups: the Cotabato Manobo, Agusan Manobo, Dibabawon Manobo, Matig Salug Manobo, Sarangani Manobo, Manobo of Western Bukidnon, Obo Manobo, and Tagabawa Manobo.
The eight groups are all very similar, differing only in dialect and in some aspects of culture. The distinctions have resulted from their geographical separation.
Organic Gardening For Growth
In the village (barangay) of Camansi under the municipality of Montevista in Compostela Valley, Philippines, the indigenous tribe of the Dibabawons has learned to make do with very little. The community population, pegged by their tribal chieftain at 150+ households or approximately 500+ individuals, is accustomed to hardship, bearing the brunt of natural disasters that have befallen their isolated territory and the surrounding areas in the past.
The harsh climate, coupled with the isolation, have led to various health issues among the indigenous peoples (IPs) including a shortage of food s ...
6Mo / A / F / Compostela Valley
Mandaya And Modern Art In Lanang
Davao has an enchanting and brilliant tapestry of harmony, woven from the diverse cultural threads of its people the migrant settlers from all over the country, as well as the numerous indigenous communities who continue to live centuries ago.
The colorful artistic heritage of Davao can be found in the rich culture of its indigenous communities the Bagobos, the Mandayas, the Mansakas, the Atas, the Kalagans, the Tagakaolos, and the Mangguangans.
At the same time, no other city effortlessly combines traditional and modern design like Davao, where one can find workshops of local artisans ...
8Mo / A / F / Talaingod / Davao Del Sur
Manobo evacuees file raps vs raiders
Manobo people have been living peacefully in the mountains of Davao del Norte and Bukidnon provinces, surviving on hunting, gathering and simple communal farming.
More than 700 of them, however, left their homes out of fear of government soldiers and militiamen who came to their villages, and sought shelter at an evacuation center here. On July 23, all hell broke loose when police and government agents tried to barge inside the facility and forcibly bring back the indigenous people, allegedly on orders of North Cotabato Rep. Nancy Catamco.
Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, who was then i ...
8Mo / A / F / Alamara / Davao Del Sur
Filipino indigenous children face crisis
In Metro Manila, the kids skipped along with friends old and new, helping each other haul heavy school bags, exchanging notes on their lunch packs. In Talaingod, Davao del Norte, they huddled by the roadside, shivering in the rain.
“Dapat nasa eskwela ‘yang mga bata na yan. Hindi n’yo dapat dalhin sa mga ganyang rally. (They are exposed to rain, they have not eaten. Those kids should be in school. They shouldn’t be bought to rallies),” a Peace and Development Media Bureau release quoted Social Work and Welfare Secretary Corazon “Dinky” Soliman in reaction to their protest.
...
9Mo / A / F / Lumad / Glencore Xstrata / Kalikasan PNE / Davao Oriental
Lumad women Our place is in the struggle
These three Lumad women are among the many who face militarization in their communities as they stand pat against the infringement of foreign companies into their ancestral territories.
For the indigenous peoples, being stewards of the land is a duty taken seriously, by both men and women, young and old. It’s what they risk their lives for, to defend that which their tribes have nurtured for centuries.
In recent years, government had tried to force its way into the ancestral territories of the Lumads in Mindanao, lusting after the rich mineral and forest resources cradled within the Lu ...
1Yr / A / F / Blaan People / Anting Freay / Bagani Force / Surigao Del Sur
IP school teachers barred from entering communities and schools in Kapalong
Classes were disrupted in a Davao del Norte indigenous peoples schools as its teachers were allegedly restricted by a fanatic paramilitary group.
Pre-school and elementary classes of more than 200 Manobo children in the villages of Lunoluno, Tawongatok, Ngan, Maguimon, Banwalay, Mansalinaw, and Muling, all in Barangay Gupitan, Kapalong failed to resume after the Christmas break when its teachers were “forbidden” by Alamara, a paramilitary tribal group, from entering their campus.
“We have paid the Mayor a courtesy call. We also talked with barangay officials and the tribal chiefta ...
1Yr / A / F / Alamara / Davao Del Norte
Eufemia Cullamat leading generations of Manobo
“No one would fight for our rights but us,” said Eufemia Cullamat, 54, a Manobo and one of the 300 Lakbayanis from Mindanao who traveled to Manila calling out for justice.
A tribal leader, Eufemia said that although she had been directly spared, her loved ones have become victims of human rights violations. This has pushed her harder to lead the Manobo communities to defend their rights and their lands.
Her son Jaceson, 21, was arrested and was jailed for “trumped up charges” since Feb. 2012.
“I was in another town gathering signatures for our petition against mining when so ...
1Yr / A / F / Karapatan / Surigao Del Sur
People advised not to rely on govt alone
To put an end to human rights violations, the people must stand together and address this issue collectively rather than solely relying on the government, a lawyer-activist said Monday.
Lawyer Beverly Musni, of the Union of People’s Lawyer in Mindanao (UPLM) and regional chair of the human rights group Karapatan, said the people’s organizations and civil society groups play an important role in making sure that cases of human rights violations (HRV) will be reported and documented properly.
Despite the sheer number of human rights violations committed for this year alone, Musni is st ...
1Yr / A / F / Karapatan / Misamis Oriental
Mandaya and modern artistry in Lanang
Davao has an enchanting and brilliant tapestry of harmony, woven from the diverse cultural threads of its people — the migrant settlers from all over the country, as well as the numerous indigenous communities who trace their roots back to live centuries ago.
The colorful artistic heritage of Davao can be found in the rich culture of its indigenous communities — the Bagobos, the Mandayas, the Mansakas, the Atas, the Kalagans, the Tagakaolos and the Mangguangans.
At the same time, no other city effortlessly combines traditional and modern design like Davao where one can find workshops ...
1Yr / A / F / Bagobo / Davao Del Sur
The Lumad school on Pantaron Range
Teacher Mabel Historia, 22, has a diminutive frame with a slightly hunched back. She has had scoliosis since birth, but her physical condition doesn’t bother nor limit her. The military allegations about her were, however, a bit too much.
“They said I am an NPA (New People’s Army) leader,” Historia smiles, slightly amused. “With my small frame, I can’t even carry heavy loads,” she said.
Historia, a teacher of Salugpungan Ta’tanu Igkanugon Learning Center Inc. (STTILC) is among the target of red-tagging and harassment by the military, that has been calling it “an NPA sch ...
1Yr / A / F / Davao Del Norte
Lake Sebu a place you have never seen
Strange that some Filipino travelers are familiar with what’s going on in places like Inner Mongolia and yet have no clue about many Philippine must-see sights and must-go sites.
Soccsksargen (South Cotabato, Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani, General Santos, comprising Central Mindanao, or Region XII) is known to most Filipinos for its alliterative acronym, Manny Pacquiao, the T’boli, Dole pineapple, and sashimi-grade tuna. But many probably can’t zoom in on the spot on the map.
We were one of those who were left in the dark, for instance, as to what was there in Lake Sebu in S ...
1Yr / A / F / Blaan People / South Cotabato / Lake Sebu
Surigao town sees public enemy in publicly listed nickel firm
Emma Hotchkiss is not your typical anti-mining activist. For one, she’s not even “anti-mining per se,” yet this proud grandmother could tell anyone straight in the face why she opposes mining in this town of 30,000 where the present mayor rode into office on an anti-mining platform.
“First, you have an irresponsible mining company that disregards environment and the people living around it,” said Hotchkiss, as she showed hours of cell phone videos and hundreds of still images of silt-laden paddy fields, turbid rivers and creeks and what appeared to be patches of swamps dotting an ...
1Yr / A / F / Marcventures Mining / Surigao Del Sur / Mt Hilong-hilong
Manobo kids call to end militarization of tribal school
For 17-year-old Ronald Bongcalas, Salugpongan Ta’Tanu Igkanugon Community Learning Center (STTICLC) is just like any other school where students are taught how to read, write and count. But he considers his school as special because they also learn about sustainable farming and how to enrich their Manobo culture.
And for this, Bongcalas told Bulatlat.com, the military has branded their school as an “NPA school.”
Manobo children and their supporters under the Save our Schools Network held a protest action in front of Camp Aguinaldo on Nov. 10 to denounce the continuing encampment of ...
1Yr / A / F / Davao Del Norte
IPs get proper attention
In my column, some months back, I remember the secretary of education, saying that for educational policies, they have to deal with the majority of students first. The minority takes a back seat in matters of prioritizing. I lamented this idea of the secretary. Did he not know that the term minority is no longer used? The correct term is IP meaning indigenous people; they belong to the tribes, the original inhabitants of our country. Remember that they are Filipinos, too, just like us who live in the provinces and cities, the metropolis of our land.
I was glad to read the recent news that D ...
1Yr / A / F / Bagobo / Davao Del Sur
DepEd urges govt troops to spare Talaingod IP school from clashes
The Department of Education here in Davao del Norte urged the military to spare Salugpongan Ta’ Tanu Igkanogon Community Learning Center, a school for indigenous children in Sitio Nasilaban, Talaingod, in the armed conflict.
In a televised program Thursday of Davao del Norte’s Kapihan ng Kapitolyo, Josephine L. Fadul, schools division superintendent of DepEd Davao del Norte, said “Whatever your agenda are, leave the children and teachers out of your encounter.”
Fadul requested the military troops belonging to 68th Infantry Batallion “to move a little bit further so that the sch ...
1Yr / A / F / Davao Del Norte
Lumad children cry save our schools
In Talaingod Manobo, “I wish to go to school…” Thus do the lumad (indigenous people) children express their eagerness for education, firmly supported by their parents, grassroots organizations and tribal leaders.
This week 13 Talaingod Manobo children, accompanied by adults, arrived in Manila from Mindanao on a month-long cultural caravan. They are students of the Salugpungan Ta ‘Tanu Ingkanugon (Unity to Defend our Ancestral Land) Learning Center, who have created a cultural presentation depicting their lives, culture, and struggle for human rights, particularly their right to educ ...
1Yr / A / F / Davao Del Norte
Manobo villagers decry military occupation of classrooms in Mindanao
Manobo tribal communities and local human rights groups this week condemned the Philippine military’s use of school classrooms as bases of operation for counter-insurgency actions in restive Mindanao province.
A “cultural caravan” comprising Manobo students and educators from Davao del Norte arrived in Manila on Wednesday to highlight the increasing violence that they say has disrupted access to education in rural areas of the country.
Cristina Palabay, secretary general of the human rights group Karapatan, said the occupation of classrooms by soldiers was a “clear violation of t ...
1Yr / A / F / Karapatan / Davao Del Norte
Manobo folk go home without army escorts
Some 2,000 Manobo people who fled their homes out of fear after the killing of their tribal leader started returning to their communities on Tuesday, following an agreement that no Army soldiers and policemen would be allowed to escort them.
Bishop Modesto Villasanta of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines said the agreement was reached during a meeting on Monday among representatives of Gov. Johnny Pimentel, tribal leaders of the affected communities, local officials and Army and police officials.
They all concurred to recognize a previous arrangement that the military would n ...
1Yr / A / F / Henry Alameda / Surigao Del Sur
Govt and NGOs set up Bukidnon HR coordinating council
To ensure protection from human rights violations and abuses, representatives from different sectors in Bukidnon created a multi-sector human rights coordinating council, an initiative made by government agencies led by the Commission on Human Rights and civil society organizations.
Inlantong Erwin Marte, chair of the Bukidnon Tribal Development Council of Elders (Butridce), told MindaNews Sunday, the council will help address the many human rights violations confronting vulnerable sectors such as the indigenous peoples and farmers in the province, especially with the lack of personnel at t ...
Dont turn our youth into fighters
An indigenous people’s leader in Northern Mindanao called on government and rebel forces to stop recruiting young indigens as fighters in northern Mindanao.
Datu Mayda Pandian, indigenous people mandatory representative in Bukidnon, said both forces should stop turning their youth as fighters, and respect the rights of indigens, and spare them from continuing clashes in hinterland barangays.
“Our youth have become combatants. We ask all groups to stop recruiting our youth. We have witnessed so much bloodshed. We have witnessed children become orphans, and wives become widows. We have ...
Military disowns anticommunist tribal warriors
The military has disowned a group of anticommunist tribal warriors who have been blamed for the massive displacement of Manobo communities here.
In a peace dialogue called by Gov. Johnny Pimentel on Thursday, military officials said the Bagani forces, headed by Datu Calpet Egua, had no authority to conduct operations against New People’s Army (NPA) rebels and had not been given orders to recruit from among the villagers.
Egua’s armed group “was not part of paramilitary groups allowed to fight the rebels,” said Col. Gregory Cayetano, head of the Army’s 401st Brigade.
2,000 di ...
1Yr / A / F / Alamara / Surigao Del Sur
DCWD provides life
November 3 marks the anniversary of the Davao City Water District (DCWD). Unknown to many, DCWD started off as a semi-government corporation because in the early stages from its inception the utility has to rely mainly from government for funds. 1973 was a year replete with anxiety. It was the second year of the martial law regime when arrests were made but on the other hand some vital infrastructures were built and these include water and power utilities.
It used to be that Dabawenyos would rely mainly on rainwater. There used to be some sort of a water system in place but one has to use m ...
1Yr / A / F / Davao Del Sur
Tribal leader reported missing in Mindanao
Rights groups in the Philippines say a tribal leader is missing following military operations against communist rebels in the southern Philippine province of Davao del Norte.
Datu Herminio Sumingguil, a Manobo tribal leader, has been missing since October 24 when a paramilitary group known as Almara attacked a village near Kapalong town, according to the rights group Karapatan.
Sumingguil is leader of the indigenous people's group "Karadyawan To Tino Katribu" and a vocal critic of the military's recruitment of tribesmen into paramilitary units.
“Sumingguil has determinedly exposed t ...
1Yr / A / F / Alamara / Karapatan / Davao Del Norte
Military attacks those who protect the environment
Jude Baggo, public information officer of the Cordillera People’s Alliance, finds it hard to comprehend why those who are at the forefront of the struggle in protecting the environment are the ones being attacked by the military.
“We are not criminals. Why are they attacking us?” Baggo said.
“Is it wrong to help those in need and empower them with services? Is it wrong to organize people’s organizations? I cannot comprehend it, really. There is nothing wrong with us. There is something wrong with them,” Baggo told Bulatlat.com, referring to the military.
Baggo is among tho ...
1Yr / A / F / Lumad / Alejandro Dumaguit / CAFGU / Agusan Del Sur
Manobos flee homes in Surigao del Sur due to killings and arson
More than 1,700 Manobo residents fled their homes in Lianga, Surigao del Sur, after their communities were hit by a series of killings, gun attacks and school-and-house burning.
On Oct. 24, Manobo leader Henry Alameda had just finished eating his breakfast inside their house in Sitio Kabalawan, Barangay San Isidro in Lianga town when armed men barged in and dragged him outside.
The armed men, who were allegedly government soldiers and members of a tribal paramilitary group called Bagani led by Datu Calpet Egua, tried to bring him towards the forest but Alameda grabbed a post of the nearb ...
1Yr / A / F / Genasque Enriquez / Karapatan / Surigao Del Sur
Karapatan Killings and disappearances AFPs gauge of Oplan Bayanihans success
“The brutal tradition of Gen. Palparan and his protégé, former 4th Infantry Division Major Gen. Ricardo Visaya, continues as units under the 4th ID rampages on communities of indigenous peoples in Surigao del Sur. The military operation resulted in the death of two Lumad and the disappearance of two others on October 24 and the subsequent evacuation of some 240 families in Lianga, Surigao del Sur on October 27,” said Cristina Palabay, secretary general of Karapatan.
The combined units under the 4th ID, now headed by Visaya’s successor Maj. Gen. Oscar Lactao, and its paramilitary gro ...
1Yr / A / F / Lumad / Aldren Dumaguit / CAFGU / Karapatan / Surigao Del Sur
This nation is tired of war and is thirsty for peace
This nation is tired of war and is thirsty for peace. Every one must agree to this statement, one must think, especially all the battle-weary citizens who have endured the effects of this conflict one way or another. They are legion, flocking in a steady stream of displacement from the countryside to the cities over the decades as they test their fates in the urban jungle that also have no room for their kind.
“No more” seems to be the common battle cry.
No more war with enemies who are borne from the same harsh land that offered all of us no reprieve from the daily struggle for surv ...
1Yr / A / F / Lumad / Felix Dagansan / Surigao Del Sur
2 Lumads killed 2 missing in Caraga region
Soldiers and paramilitary men are suspected in the killing of two people, including a Manobo leader, and disappearance of two farmers in the bordering provinces of Agusan del Sur and Surigao del Sur in the Caraga region, which are undergoing massive military operations. The Caraga region is in the northeastern portion of the island of Mindanao.
Urgent Alerts sent by Karapatan Caraga on Oct. 26 identified the suspected perpetrators as operating troops of the 2nd Scout Ranger Battalion based in St. Christine, Lianga, Surigao del Sur under Lt.Col. Jesus Durante, the 36th Infantry Battalion, th ...
1Yr / A / F / Lumad / Aldren Dumaguit / CAFGU / Karapatan / Surigao Del Sur
Extra Judicial Killing of MAPASU Council Member and Leader Henry Alameda
Victim Henry Alameda, 44 years old, Manobo, resident of Cabalawan, San Isidro, Lianga, Surigao del Sur, married, active council member of Malahutayong Pakigbisog Alang Sa Sumusunod (MAPASU).
Place of Incident: Sitio Cabalawan, San Isidro, Lianga, Surigao del Sur
Date of Incident: October 24, 2014 at 7am
Alleged Perpetrator(s): Operating troops of the 2nd Scout Ranger Batallion, based in St. Christine, Lianga, Surigao del Sur under LTC. Jesus Durante; Operating troops of the 36th IB PA; 3rd Special Forces Battalion, under the 401st Brigade, Philippine Army; CAFGU; Members of the parami ...
1Yr / A / F / Lumad / Henry Alameda / CAFGU / Karapatan / Surigao Del Sur
Another tribal leader killed in Mindanao
A Manobo tribal leader leader was shot and killed by suspected military agents in Lianga, Surigao del Sur on October 24.
According to human rights group Karapatan, Henry Alameda was dragged outside of his house in Sitio Cabalawan, Brgy. San Isidro, Lianga, Surigao del Sur by three men armed with M14 and M16 rifles. Alameda refused to go along with the armed men and clung to a post in a waiting shed outside of their house.
This prompted one of the suspects to shoot him twice in the chest while another shot him in the head.
According to the group, witnesses saw that elements of 2nd Scou ...
1Yr / A / F / Lumad / Aldren Dumaguit / CAFGU / Karapatan / Surigao Del Sur
PH ethnic groups want bill recognizing conservation rights
Philippine indigenous peoples want a bill that will strengthen their rights to conserve and protect natural resources inside their ancestral domains.
On the second day of the National Conference on Indigenous Communities Conserved Areas on Wednesday, October 22, tribal leaders applauded plans for such a bill to be sponsored by Ifugao representative Teddy Baguilat Jr.
"The bill will see to it that indigenous initiatives, indigenous systems in conservation will be strengthened and will be given a legal face, especially because many people still do not understand the ways of the IPs," said ...
7 conservation areas for tribes identified
Concerned government agencies and conservation groups have identified seven areas in the country inhabited by particular tribes, which will serve as pilot sites for a conservation area project led by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
Director Theresa Mundita Lim of the DENR’s Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB) noted Mt. Kalatungan Mountain Range in Bukidnon, home of the Menuvu Community; Cabangan, Zambales and SanFelipe, Za™ found; Mt. Iris, General Nakar, Quezon where the Agta Dumagat-Remontados abound; Mt. Iglit in Oriental Mindoro (Buhid and Bangon tribes) ...
1Yr / A / F / Balatoc / Agusan Del Norte / Mt Hilong-hilong
Manobos cry foul over ruckus of drunken soldiers
Members of a local indigenous peoples organization scored the military Monday for allegedly sowing fear among the residents after some drunken soldiers went berserk in the community of Sitio Nasilaban, Barangay Palma Gil, Talaingod, Davao del Norte.
According to the statement issued by Salugpungan Ta ‘Tanu Igkanugon, last October 11 at around 6:30 in the evening, residents heard gunshots after some elements of the 68th Infantry Battalion got drunk.
The fire came from a military post located at some 50 meters away from Nasilaban Elementary School, and 200 meters away from the high schoo ...
1Yr / A / F / Davao Del Norte
Indigenous women question mining in ancestral domain
“Our lives are connected to the land and as it is being degraded, we slowly die”, Fintailan Leonora Mokudef, an indigenous woman leader of the Teduray tribe as she shared the plight of some of their traditional communities in Maguindanao amidst threats of mining to the participants of the public forums of the Lakbay Tribu para sa Karapatan sa Sariling Pagpapasya (Indigenous Peoples’ Journey for the Right to Self-Determination) in Nuro, Upi and Cotabato City on September 13 and 16 respectively.
As one of the speakers, Fintailan Mokudef raised the concern of the indigenous women on the ...
A Celebration of Philippine Indigenous Cultures
Most of the indigenous groups of the Philippines will gather together from October to November to celebrate their traditional cultures and heritage in celebration of National Indigenous Peoples’ Month.
Said to be biggest gathering of Philippine indigenous peoples (IP) by far, Dayaw 2014: The Indigenous Peoples Festival, annually held by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), will showcase traditional cuisines, games, rituals, dances, songs, practices and crafts in an effort to engender wider awareness and appreciation for indigenous cultures, which are constantly under t ...
Murder of Teduray chieftain meant to silence lumad struggle for rights
The murder of a Teduray chieftain in Maguindanao province on October 2 was "not an ordinary crime but an attempt to silence tribal leaders who persevere in standing for their rights," the supreme council of the tribe said Monday.
Lencio Arig, a member of the Minted sa Inged, or council of leaders of the Timuay Justice and Governance, was shot dead in Sitio Keninan, Barangay Ramongaob, South Upi town by at least two gunmen as he walked home with his wife and young daughter.
In a statement, the TJG, which is the indigenous political structure of the Teduray and Lambangian tribes in Maguind ...
1Yr / A / F / Lumad / Lencio Arig / Maguindanao
Maguindanao lumad leader killed in ambush
A leader of the Teduray tribe in Maguindanao province was killed in an ambush Thursday afternoon, an indigenous peoples advocacy group said.
The Mindanao Peoples' Peace Movement said Timuay (chieftain) Lencio Arig was with his wife and small daughter when attacked in Barangay Romongaub, South Upi town. The two were unhurt.
The group could give no further details of the incident as of this posting.
Timuay Labi (supreme chieftain) Sammie Bello, who heads the Timuay Justice and Governance, the indigenous political structure of the Teduray and Lambangian tribes of Maguindanao, of which Ar ...
1Yr / A / F / Tiruray / Lencio Arig / Maguindanao
Mining company eyeing gold and copper in Davao City
A mining company has applied to explore gold and copper in about 15,660 hectares in Marilog District in Davao City.
The Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) in Region Eleven, in its website, said the application of Mambusao Mining Corporation has already been endorsed to the Davao City government and the National Commission for Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) for their recommendation and comment.
The Mambusao Mining application is numbered EXPA 000116-XI as recorded in the list of applications with the MGB XI.
The application, covering 15,660 hectares was filed in 2005 and published in the n ...
1Yr / A / F / Lumad / Mambusao Mining / Davao Del Sur
Gold mining in Mt. Diwata earns new player
Another mining company has joined the search for gold in the bowels of Mt. Diwata in Monkayo, Compostela Valley which has a gold deposit of $8 billion waiting to be tapped.
Comval Tribal Resources Corporation (CTRC) is also seeking a partnership with local natives legally armed with government-issued Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT) over large areas rich in gold and copper deposits in this mining village also called Diwalwal.
CTRC has an initial operational budget of US$1 million, half of it for exploration expenses, according to the company which would join the search for go ...
1Yr / A / F / Mandaya / Comval Tribal Resources / Compostela Valley / Mt Diwata Diwalwal
We will not be wiped out by dams
The Dumagats and Remontados of Southern Tagalog are shy by nature, living as subsistence farmers in the southern hinterlands of the Sierra Madre mountain range. But for the past 35 years, they have come out of their shell to defend their homes and culture against a threat that comes from no less than the government: the Laiban dam project.
The Dumagats and Remontados are gearing up for another round of fight against the Laiban dam project, which has been revived for the nth time, now by the Aquino government.
Learning from the experience of other indigenous communities who had been displ ...
1Yr / A / F / Dumagat / Philex Mining / Quezon / Laiban Dam
Second generation of activists continue fight against Laiban dam
Dumagats and Remontados from mountain villages in Rizal and Quezon marched to Mendiola bridge today, Sept. 26, to protest the revival of the Laiban dam project in Southern Tagalog. There were the tribal elders, mostly women, who, since the 80s have been fighting the implementation of the big dam. But also there were the youth – the second generation of anti-dam activists – who are now carrying the proverbial torch in defending their ancestral lands against development aggression.
“We are calling on President Aquino not to continue with Laiban dam. We are calling on you, our countrymen ...
1Yr / A / F / Dumagat / SMC / Quezon / Kaliwa River
Problematizing lumad identity
The term “lumad” has become the catch-all word for all the indigenous groups of Mindanao. Under this umbrella term, are the different ethnolinguistic groups such as the Mamanwa, Manobos, Mandaya, Talaandig, and Higaonon, among others.
Annual festivities of various provinces, municipalities, and cities these days mine the rich heritage and culture of these groups in a various modes of appropriation in their street dances, exhibits, and marketing imagery. It is a loaded term that has come to connote all sorts of different images and meanings and therefore requires a second critical look.
...
1Yr / A / F / Lumad / RMP-NMR / Misamis Oriental
Death of 3 in Kapalong 10 years ago forgotten but killers now hailed as heroes–lumads
Ten years ago, three persons were killed and five were wounded in a massacre inside a Manobo community in Kapalong, Davao del Norte.
The community pointed to the paramilitary group Alamara as the perpetrators, with the victims ensuring that it was noted in the police blotter.
Ten years later, the case looks like it has been forgotten and those responsible are now being hailed as heroes.
“In 2004, Dao Mamat-aw, Letty Mamat-aw and Rosalina Tomambad were killed while Linda Sampag, Joanito Tiwog, Kolas Mamat-aw, Baranggaw Sumpo and Dikay Tiwog were wounded in an massacre in Barangay Gup ...
1Yr / A / F / Lumad / Alamara / Davao Del Norte
Rights group hits P200-billion Oplan Bayanihan budget for 2015
Human rights group Karapatan slammed the proposed budget of Oplan Bayanihan for 2015, saying it is a budget to “kill.”
On Saturday, Hanimay Suazo, Regional Secretary General of Karapatan in Southern Mindanao Region said the proposed Oplan Bayanihan budget will only amplify the “killing machineries” of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
“The proposed budget will only aggravate the already gloomy human rights situation in the country,” Suazo said.
In a document showed by Karapatan-SMR, it bared that the Oplan Bayanihan—the government’s counter insurgency program—has ...
An indigenous man protesting against a palm oil company was shot dead by a manager of the company
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) deeply regrets to inform you that an indigenous man, protesting against a palm oil company, was shot dead by one of their managers. The victim was killed a month after he and his colleagues had retaken control of 4,000 hectares of their land. The company had refused to pay them back-rent of five years, eight months. No action was taken against the perpetrators by the local police on the pretext that the shooting was in self-defense.
On 9 August 2014, at 6:41am, Armando Campos, an agricultural land beneficiary under the government’s agrarian reform ...
1Yr / A / F / Armando Campos / Agusan Del Sur
Paramilitary group displaces Manobo tribe
A paramilitary group has displaced 118 families belonging to the Manobo tribe in Lydia village, La Paz in Agusan del Sur, according to the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines – Northern Mindanao.
“It is very disheartening that the military and the government will allow the existence of this paramilitary group as their helping-hand in their counterinsurgency program despite the atrocities that it had inflicted against the people in the area,” the RMP-NMR’s statement read.
Soldiers belonging to the 26th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army, along with paramilitary group Baga ...
1Yr / A / F / Bagani Force / Agusan Del Sur
Agusan del Sur eyes 20,000 hectares rubber plantation
A 20,000-hectare rubber tree plantation is being programmed in Agusan del Sur after having been seen as another key factor in climate change mitigation and sustainable livelihood to farmers.
The government and rubber growers are looking for bigger areas in the towns of Loreto, Trento, Rosario, Bunawan and the province’s lone city of Bayugan.
Agusan del Sur has already an existing 13, 321 hectares planted rubber trees, with 4, 972 hectares productive and producing a total cup lump volume of 15, 273 metric tons with an average of 3.1 metric tons per hectare.
Agusan del Sur Gov. Adolph ...
1Yr / A / F / Philsaga Mining / Agusan Del Sur
New pangayaw feared to result to more civilian casualties in remote Davao del Norte
Tribal groups expressed concern over the fresh warning of a military-formed tribal armed unit that it was declaring a pangayaw, or tribal war, against the New People’s Army. At least three tribal organizations - Karadyawan, Pasaka and Kalumaran - warned that the declaration of a pangayaw in Pantukan, Davao del Norte, by the paramilitary group Alamara would result to more civilian casualties instead, as the pangayaw is known to spare no living creatures, be it animals or humans, who would pass or is found in the area of engagement.
In a television interview this week, Datu Larris Masaloon, ...
1Yr / A / F / Lumad / Alamara / Davao Del Norte
Recipe for resource conflict boiling in Mindanao
The environment month of June is marred by a dispersal of 300 farmers barricading a multinational mining firm in the town of Maco, Compostela Valley.
The incident occurred on June 27 as farmers and small-scale miners under the group Indug Kauwatan (People Stand Up) barricading the gates of Apex Mining were dispersed, and two members arrested, by private security and state forces.
Indug Kauwatan wanted the company to stop its open-pit mining operations and to comply with their agreement for an indemnification after huge flooding, aggravated by the firm’s mining operations, destroyed the ...
1Yr / A / F / Higaonon / Gilbert Paborada / Apex Mining / Compostela Valley
Rights group slams abuses in Davnor town
Human rights group Karapatan lambasted a military general for “sowing Palparan-style terror” in Kapalong town.
Over the weekend, Karapatan Secretary General Cristina Palabay, in an emailed statement, said that human rights violations in Mindanao continue to rise even with the incarceration of what they call the “Butcher,” military retired general Jovito Palparan.
“Gen. Palparan may be in jail, but his trained dogs, Brig. Gen. Ricardo Visaya and Gen. Eduardo Año are sowing terror in Mindanao,” Palabay said.
Karapatan blamed 10th ID’s Maj. Gen. Eduardo Año of “hamletti ...
1Yr / A / F / Lumad / Alamara / Karapatan / Davao Del Norte
Fil am probe team dismayed over government negligence
Filipino-American delegates to the recent International Solidarity Mission in Mindanao were “dismayed” with Philippine government over what they observed as “its negligence to attend to the basic social services of its people”.
In a press conference, Nikki Caintic of Anakbayan Seattle and Kapit Bisig Kabataan Network (KBKN, a relief network group) said that even the “enormous military presence in the region doesn’t serve and protect the people; rather it defends the interest of the corporations that are endangering the environment.”
Caintic said she immersed in the communit ...
1Yr / A / F / Surigao Del Sur
Only 1 percent of lumad moms get maternal health services
Only less that one percent of lumads in far-flung areas were able to avail themselves of giving birth by a skilled birth attendant, as shown in the result of the Indigenous People's (IP) Baseline Demographic Survey done in 2013.
Data showed that 95 percent of IP mothers living in the Geographically Isolated and Disadvantaged Areas (GIDA) resort to giving birth through the help of traditional birth attendants or hilot and the difference of 3.8 percent is for no one in attendance at all.
The baseline study was done by the IP Maternal, Neonatal, Child Health and Nutrition (MNCHN) Project-Mi ...
1Yr / A / F / Lumad / Davao Del Sur
Detained anti pork Lumad freed as Peoples Initiative starts
Indigenous leader Genasque Enriquez was supposed to represent Lumads from Mindanao at a congress in Cebu that launched a people’s initiative against the “pork barrel” or discretionary funds on Saturday, August 23.
He did not make it to the gathering dubbed “People’s Initiative to Abolish Pork Barrel” after authorities arrested him in Surigao City before his flight on Friday, August 22.
“Hindi ko na-avail yung due process of law. Hindi ako nakatanggap ng kahit anong subpoena. Nabigla ako,” Enriquez told Rappler in a phone interview. (I was not afforded the due process of l ...
1Yr / A / F / Lumad / Genasque Enriquez / Karapatan / Cebu
Mindanao Lumads condemn arrest of Manobo leader on fabricated charges
The Mindanao indigenous peoples alliance KALUMARAN calls for the immediate release of Manobo leader Genasque Enriquez as his arrest “smacks of fabricated criminal charges from a government that wants to silence a staunch anti-mining and anti-Oplan Bayanihan critic.”
Dulphing Ogan, secretary general of KALUMARAN, today slammed President Benigno Aquino III for the arrest of Enriquez by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), 30th Infantry Battalion Philippine Army (PA), and the Philippine National Police (PNP) in Surigao City at around one o’clock in the afternoon today, ...
1Yr / A / F / Lumad / Genasque Enriquez / RMP-NMR / Surigao Del Sur
Genasque Enriquez, Lumad Leader from CARAGA Arrested with False Charges
Mr. Genasque Enriquez, a Manobo leader, secretary-general of KASALO and Vice President of the KATRIBU Partylist was arrested today, 22 August 2014, at 1:00 pm after attending the press conference for the People’s Initiative in Surigao City. Enriquez was arrested by elements of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) of the Philippine National Police.using an alias warrant. He is currently being held at the Surigao City Hall under the custody of the CIDG.
The arrest of Mr. Enriquez was in relation with frustrated murder case No. L-2540 filed against him on March 25, 2013 in L ...
1Yr / A / F / Lumad / Genasque Enriquez / Surigao Del Sur
Arrested IP leader says he is not in hiding not guilty
A leader of an indigenous people’s group arrested by government agents earlier today said he was “never in hiding” and that he is not “guilty” of the charges filed against him.
Genasque Enriquez, 41, secretary-general of Kahugpungan sa mga Lumadnong Organisasyon (Kasalo) in Caraga region, said he “was active in campaigns to protect the rights of the indigenous peoples and the environment.”
“I even attended this press conference and I am active most recently in relief missions for the victims of Typhoon Yolanda (international name: Haiyan),” said Enriquez in an interview ...
1Yr / A / F / Lumad / Genasque Enriquez / Surigao Del Sur
Three indigenous peoples killed in a week
Three indigenous peoples were killed in separate incidents from August 9 to 14 in Agusan del Sur and Bukidnon, based on reports from church and non-government organizations.
Among the suspects were a paramilitary group under the Phil. Army’s 4th Infantry Division, and an official of a palm oil company.
Agusan del Sur
On August 9, Armando Campos, a 42-year-old Manobo, was shot dead at 5:30 am in Ebro village.
The killing was condemned in an August 15 joint statement by Archbishop of Cagayan de Oro Antonio Ledesma, Fr. Edwin Gariguez, the executive secretary of the Catholic Bishops ...
1Yr / A / F / Lumad / Bagani Force / Agusan Del Sur
Foreign activists decry rights abuses in Mindanao
US-based and Fil-am delegates who participated in a recent International Solidarity Mission deplored the rights abuses they saw in several areas in Mindanao.
In a report they gave during a press conference, the North America-Philippines Solidarity Affair (NAPSA) said that people in all the places they have visited “suffered from massive human rights violations caused by militarization of the communities under Oplan Bayanihan.”
Oplan Bayanihan is the counter-insurgency operational plan of the Aquino administration.
In Talaingod, Davao del Norte the group said that there were “att ...
1Yr / A / F / Davao Del Sur
Indigenous peoples urge lawmakers to scrap Mining Act
Indigenous leaders from mining-affected communities had submitted a petition to lawmakers calling for the repeal of the Mining Act of 1995.
The Scrap the Mining Act Network and indigenous peoples led by the Kalipunan ng mga Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas (KAMP) gave the petition on August 11 to North Cotabato Rep. Nancy Catamco and Bayan Muna partylist Rep. Carlos Zarate. Catamco, a Manobo, heads the House Committee on National Cultural Communities.
Leaders from the Igorot, Ayta and B’laan communities handed over the petition during the program for the opening of a photo exhibit at ...
Defending Land, Defending Life
The struggle for the rightful claim to land has again cost a tiller's life--that of 42-year old Manobo farmer, Amando Campos y Adlawan's. He was shot pointblank on the face by people supposedly connected with Filipinas Palm Oil Plantation Inc.
We are not in the feudal age of colonial times, neither are we living in the turbulent 1950s; not anymore under a dictatorship, and yet blood is still being spilled in defense of land, of one's right to a life of dignity and emancipated from poverty, which sadly has become a tragic trend in the Philippines. In January of this year, Arman Padino, 33, a ...
1Yr / A / F / Armando Campos / Focus South / Manila
Farmer murdered as violence escalates in Mindanao palm oil plantation
A 42-year old farmer died early this morning of multiple gunshot wounds in Brgy. Ebro, this municipality. One of the suspects, Anecito Ortiz, is the manager of the Filipinas Palm Oil Plantation Inc., the biggest palm oil operator in Mindanao.
The victim, Armando Campos y Adlawan was reportedly on his way to their strike area in Brgy. Ebro at around 5:30 this morning when he was ambushed by the suspects. He was shot point blank in the face with a 0.45 caliber pistol by Ortiz. Eyewitnesses say that Campos attempted to flee but Ortiz and two other suspects, an alias Junie Maltos” and Arnold ...
1Yr / A / F / Armando Campos / HR Online PH / Agusan Del Sur
Indigenous peoples document their past to save their future
Some indigenous peoples in southern Philippines recently trained about how to document their age-old political structures and culture not only to “correct wrong stories written about us” but to also ensure that what elders used to have transmitted orally be finally written and taught to the youth and the next generations.
“Ang dokumentasyon ay simula para itama ang mga maling naisulat tungkol sa atin (This documentation training seeks to help correct whatever misperception written about us),” said Bernardo Limikid, a Mansaka from Maragusan, Compostella Valley.
Limikid was among 4 ...
1Yr / A / F / Ibaloi / Tebtebba / Compostela Valley
Lumad hope consultation with House panel leads to inclusion in Bangsamoro Law
Indigenous people in Maguindanao are hoping a consultation conducted by the House of Representatives’ committee on national cultural communities and indigenous peoples will lead to the full recognition of their rights and identities in the Bangsamoro Basic Law.
The consultation, held in Upi, Maguindanao on Tuesday, was attended by close to 800 participants who apprised the members of the committee, chaired by Representative Nancy Catamco, a Bagobo-Manobo from Kidapawan, North Cotabato, of the socio-cultural, economic and political concerns of the Teduray, Lambangian and Dulangan Manobo wi ...
1Yr / A / F / Lumad / LRC KsK FOE / National
Indigenous tribes want ancestral lands excluded from Bangsamoro autonomy.
Leaders of indigenous tribes within the proposed Bangsamoro territory have demanded that their ancestral lands be excluded, saying that if Philippine government refuses to exclude them from the draft law on Bangsamoro autonomy, it would violate their inherent and inalienable right to self-determination.
“We cannot accept Bangsamoro as our identity. We have our own identity and this is the Erumanen ne Menuvu,” Erumanen Datu Ronaldo Ambangan said as he read the declaration of the Erumanen ne Menuvu tribe during the June 24 congressional consultations on the proposed Bangsamoro in Midsayap ...
1Yr / A / F / LRC KsK FOE / National
Mindanao natural resources protectors under siege
Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment (Kalikasan PNE) warned that the largely undocumented biodiversity in Pantaron Range might disappear, along with the indigenous knowledge of the Talaingod Manobos who have protected the forests of the mountain range over the past decades, if they continue to be driven out of their ancestral domain as a result of massive troop deployment and military operations of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).
This is a familiar story by now – once upon a time, the Philippines had an extensive forest cover. Then, large-scale ‘legal’ logging c ...
1Yr / A / F / Lumad / Kalikasan PNE / Bukidnon / Pantaron Mountain Range
Datu Guibang Apoga Manobo resistance leader
It was the year 1993 when Datu Guibang Apoga gained prominence in Mindanao as an indigenous leader of Manobos of Talaingod, Davao del Norte when he led his tribe’s active resistance against one of the largest commercial logging companies in the country, Alcantara & Sons (Alsons). Datu Guibang united the many Manobo datus in Talaingod-Pantaron to decisively put an end to logging operations that threatened their ancestral land and the environment.
By the next year, when several army battalions forced 500 Lumads to evacuate to Davao City, Datu Guibang and some Manobos stayed in Talaingod and ...
1Yr / A / F / Davao Del Norte
Evacuation echoes yearning for protected land for tribal Manobos
They slept by day. At night, they left. Following the trail of the river, they walked, crawled, and stumbled. Datu Tungig Mansumuy-at didn’t use flashlights so that they won’t be seen. They first carried their children then went back for the ill.
On the 29th day of April, the entire village of Talaingod evacuated here again due to heightened military activities and alleged abuses against civilians in their area.
It was getting dark at UCCP (United Church of Christ of the Philippines) when Manobo tribal Datu Tungig Mansumuy-at, wearing a blue shirt and purple drawstring pants, led his ...
1Yr / A / F / CASI / Davao Del Norte
Unity Statement of the 3rd Panalipdan Mindanao Assembly
We are defenders and advocates of the environment, Creation, and the national patrimony, gathered together in General Santos City for the 3rd Panalipdan! Mindanao Assembly from 21-24 April 2014.
Coming from all over Mindanao, we express our unity and solidarity with the people of SOCSKSARGENDS in their and our demand for SMI-Xstrata-Glencore to cease operations, pack up their equipment, leave the country, and pay for their crimes against the people and the environment.
SMI-Xstrata-Glencore’s multi-billion dollar Tampakan Gold Project is one of the emblems of imperialist plunder and the ...
1Yr / A / F / Blaan People / Eliezer Boy Billanes / Apex Mining / South Cotabato
Dreams die young in Talaingod Davao del Norte
Bahandilin Manayab was wiping sweat and grime off her face as she trekked through thick foliage and rocky dirt roads. She, her family and at least 170 of her neighbors in Sitio Lasakan, Barangay Palma Gil, in the town of Talaingod in Davao del Norte province were fleeing from massive military operations against communist guerrillas.
Clinging to Manayab’s chest through a piece of cloth called “salulo” was her 12-day-old baby, Biboy, who was then suffering from cough and fever.
“I breast-fed him while we were hiking. But he continued crying. His voice was faint. He suddenly stopped ...
2Yr / A / F / Lumad / Cartwheel / Davao Del Norte
Lumads claim contested land through militant assertion; support groups call for sustained solidarity
Datu Andong is the head claimant and leader of TINDOGA, an indigenous people’s group formed in 2008 to legitimize claims on an ancestral domain currently occupied by the agri-firm Montalvan Ranch, Inc. of Pablo “Poling” Lorenzo.
“We had no source of food, water and other essentials. We had to live inside heaps of scrap materials pretending to be houses and our children were always at the mercy of highway motorists.” Datu Andong lamented. The group also is continuously facing serious threats including being shot at by Montalvan’s guards after attempting to collectively plant vege ...
Officials back royalty claims of Manobos who barricaded mine firm
Officials had endorsed the ancestral domain claim and demand for royalty by a group of Manobos that recently staged a barricade against a mining company in Claver, Surigao del Norte, documents obtained by MindaNews showed.
The Kahugpungan sa Nagkahiusang Tribu nga Manunubod sa Yutang Kabilin (Katrimyuka) barricaded the causeway of Adnama Mining Resources Inc. (AMRI), in Barangay Urbiztondo, Claver from Sept. 2 to Oct.5 to demand payment from the firm.
Led by Datu Mansa Samuel D. Sumanda, Datu Rommel Dawog and Datu Cesar Bat-ao, the Manobos said that AMRI is operating in parts of what the ...
2Yr / A / F / Adnama Mining / Surigao Del Norte
On the Struggle of Indigenous People for their Ancestral Land and the Struggle for Genuine Reform
Ednar Dayanghirang, who heads the present Philippine government’s part in the Government of the Republic of the Philippines – National Democratic Front of the Philippines Reciprocal Working Committees on Socio-Economic Reforms (GPH-NDF RWCs on SER), has come out either totally lying all the way or else totally knowing nothing, or a combination of both, in his statements to the media in an interview last Saturday with the DZRH radio station.
Dayanghirang stated that the New People’s Army (NPA) has been killing indigenous people, even if what is true is the other way around – – it i ...
2Yr / A / F / Blaan People / Genesis Ambason / Task Force KITACO / Davao Del Sur
If they can kill us from the church they can kill defenseless IP communities
Unlike her ordinary days walking barefoot, educating, organizing and mobilizing indigenous and poor farmers’ communities in the rural areas of Northern Mindanao, Sister Fam will not be in the hinterlands come October 9-11 of 2013.
This time, she will be in Dublin, Ireland to share her and her organization’s stories as human rights defenders working in resource conflict areas of Mindanao. She is to attend the Seventh Dublin Platform for Human Rights Defenders. The Platform is organized by Front Line Defenders, an international foundation working for the protection of human rights defend ...
2Yr / A / F / Banwaon / Fausto Pops Tentorio / A Brown Company / RMP-NMR / Agusan Del Sur
An Account of the International Solidarity Mission Caraga Region 14 18 July 2013
On July 19-21, 2013, more than two hundred representatives of human rights and people’s organizations and peace activists from 23 countries gathered for the International Conference for Human Rights and Peace in the Philippines (ICHRPP) to examine the human rights condition and peace in the Philippines and the world.
The conference also served as a venue to build strong solidarity and consolidate international cooperation among people’s movements upholding human rights and social justice and waging struggles for social and national liberation.
It was a great honor for me to have part ...
2Yr / A / F / Mamanwa / Adnama Mining / ICHRP / Surigao Del Sur
Campos arrest is blatant political harassment say Karapatan Caraga
“Jalandoni Campos’ arrest is blatant political harassment against progressive people’s organizations and partylists,”, states Dr. Naty Castro, secretary general of Karapatan Caraga.
Campos is chairperson of the Manobo intermunicipal organization in Lianga, San Agustin and Marihatag, Surigao del Sur, Malahutayong Pakigbisog Alang sa Sumusunod (MAPASU) and council member of the Mindanao Lumad alliance, Kalumaran. He was arrested at 8 pm on March 23, 2013 as he was leaving the SURE FM radio station in Tandag City, Surigao del Sur. He was guest of radio anchorman Nick Acapulco and rep ...
3Yr / A / F / Lumad / Jalandoni Campos / Karapatan / Surigao Del Sur
Kaamulan and the Essence of Unity
In a frenzy of drumbeats and chants, Bukidnon’s Kaamulan festival is one of the most colorful, celebrated and recognized festivals in Mindanao and all over the country. With the province’s rich culture and heritage, the Kaamulan is a sight and sound to behold.
Kaamulan, which is held annually in Malaybalay City from the last part of February until mid-March, celebrates the life of seven tribes who originally inhabited the region, namely the Bukidnon, Higaonon, Talaandig, Manobo, Matigsalug, Tigwahanon and Umayamnon. From the root word “amul”, which means “to gather”, Kaamulan ...
3Yr / A / F / Higaonon / Jimmy Liguyon / SCMEC Mining / Bukidnon
Stop the Killings Stop Large Scale Mining
Mindanao Peoples’ Statement in Defense of Land, Environment, and Human Rights. We bring to the attention of President Benigno Aquino III and the whole nation the havoc being brought about by largescale mining and other extractive industries in Mindanao.
34 Mindanawons, including 26 Lumads, have been killed since June 2010 for their defense of the land, environment, and people’s livelihood.
This include pregnant Blaan Juvy Capion in Kiblawan, Davao del Sur who opposed the Tampakan Gold and Copper project of Xstrata Sagittarius Mines; Matigsalog leader Jimmy Liguyon of Bukidnon who re ...
3Yr / A / F / Banwaon / Dr. Isidro Olan / A Brown Company / National
Make It Davao Tribu KMindanawan Cultural Village
Tribu K’Mindanawan is a cultural village in Davao City that showcases the richness and diversity of the various cultures and colorful heritage of the different indigenous tribes of Mindanao. It is a widely popular attraction, frequented year-round by locals, domestic travelers, and foreign tourists, and is a must-see destination while in the city. The village consists of the cultural communities and tribes of the Mangguangan, Mansaka, Ata Manobo, Ata Paquibato, Obo Manobo, Bagobo Tagabawa, T’boli, B'laan, and the Mandaya, whose traditional houses, ornaments and tools are featured therein.
...
3Yr / A / F / Talaingod / Davao Del Sur
Katribu Condemns Ambush of Anti Mining Activist Dr Isidro Olan
KATRIBU Indigenous Peoples’ Partylist condemns the ambush of another anti-mining activist and environmentalist in Surigao del Sur, Mindanao. We call on indigenous peoples, ancestral land defenders and defenders of the environment to condemn this latest incident and escalating killings of anti-mining activists and indigenous peoples.
Yesterday, at around 3:30 in the afternoon, on his way home, unidentified assailants shot at Dr. Isidro Olan. He survived the attempt on his life and is now recuperating at the Madrid Municipal Hospital. He is the Executive Director of the Lovers of Nature Fou ...
3Yr / A / F / Mamanwa / Dr. Isidro Olan / Surigao Del Sur
Agusan Del Sur Tribal Leaders Vow To Unite For Peace Development Pamana
Leaders of the three warring tribes in Brgy. Binicalan in San Luis, Agusan del Sur have resolved their conflict and pledged to unite for peace and development at the Indigenous Peoples Dialogue for Enterprise Development initiated by the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP).
The dialogue was organized following PAMANA or Payapa at Masaganang Pamayanan (Peaceful and Resilient Communities) program interventions that would benefit the Banwaon, Manobo, and Talaandig tribes in the 25,000-hectare Certificate on Ancestral Domain Title (CADT) 079.
“PAMANA has already ...
3Yr / A / F / Banwaon / Agusan Del Sur
Protecting IPs Rights to Ancestral Domains and Lands
The significant yet often marginalized and neglected Indigenous Peoples (IPs) of the Philippines continue to struggle for the protection of their rights, rights that they feel are being ignored by the government. Their sentiment is one of disappointment as they were one of the glaring omissions in President Benigno Aquino III’s State of the Nation Address last July 23, a mere two weeks before the commemoration of the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples on August 9.
While the protection and fulfillment of basic human rights is one of the more widespread campaigns worldwid ...
3Yr / A / F / Higaonon / Carlito Chavez / Alyansa Tigil Mina / National / Chico River Dam
Indigenous peoples leader charged with murder by military
The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) are at it again.
According to the Katribu Indigenous Peoples’ Partylist, the AFP is directly behind a criminalization and vilification campaign against its national vice-president and second nominee Genasque Enriquez.
The AFP, Katribu said, has filed charges of murder and frustrated murder against Genasque, alleging that he and 36 others are members of the New People’s Army and among those who figured in a armed encounter against the 75th Infantry Battalion of the Philippines Army in Bunawan, Agusan del Sur last 21 July 2012.The case is under ...
3Yr / A / F / Lumad / Genasque Enriquez / Taganito Mining / Agusan Del Sur
Dislocation and landgrabbing beset poor Matigsalogs farmers already victimized with Marilog landslides
The local reactionary government’s relocation of Matigsalog Lumad victims and declaration of hazardous areas in the wake of last week’s landslides in sitio Ladian, Brgy. Marilog will be more beneficial to landgrabbing CADT holders and big mining corporations.
The National Democratic Front Southern Mindanao warns of further dislocation of peasant and poor Lumad masses from their lands, that are now seen as precarious and within the reported geo-hazardous mountains of Marilog district.
Areas declared by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau as geo-hazardous are also areas opened by its head ...
3Yr / A / F / Matigsalug / Mambusao Mining / Davao Del Sur
Mandaya Tribe vs Philippine Mining Development Corporation
Indigenous people mostly belonging to the Mandaya community here were enraged over the cease and desist order (CDO) issued by the Philippine Mining Development Corporation (PMDC) to stop mining operation within the Tribal Mining Area.
On June 25, Friday they hold a sort of rally along the road at Sitio Mibatas brandishing their traditional hunting gears — spears and arrows, while wearing the Mandaya distinctive red garb.
Members of the Mandaya community in Upper Ulip organized a Panawag-tawag ritual officiated by a “baylan” (shaman) who appealed to diwatas to protect TRIMA from int ...
4Yr / A / F / Mandaya / PMDC / Bohol / Mt Diwata Diwalwal
Paramilitary group accused of harassing sitio folk in Bukidnon town
Members of an alleged paramilitary group linked to an organization of ancestral domain claimants with mining interests are harassing residents of a sitio (sub-village) in San Fernando town, Bukidnon, a Lumad leader today said.
Mampaglas said Salusad is a member of the San Fernando Matigsalug Tribal Datus (Sanmatrida), which has publicly admitted to inviting mining investors to operate in the area.
He alleged that Sanmatrida wanted to stop all gold panning activities in Kirangol to pave the way for its mining application.
He said “ayag-ayag” (gold panning activities) in Kirangol st ...
4Yr / A / F / Lumad / Jimmy Liguyon / NIPAR / Bukidnon
Ifugao Solon calls for investigation of IP leader Florita Nang Flor Caya killing
Ifugao Representative Teddy Brawner Baguilat urgently called on President Benigno S. Aquino III to compel the immediate investigation of the assassination of key tribal leaders fighting to keep the indigenous peoples’ domain over their ancestral domain being eyed by mining and logging interests.
In separate resolutions filed at the House of Representatives, Baguilat, who also chairs the House Committee on National Cultural Communities, said that the immediate investigation of the assassination of Florita Caya, General Manager of the Unified Tribal Council of Elders and Leaders, and Armand ...
4Yr / A / F / Aeta / Florita Caya / Ifugao
Senseless Killings of Mining Activists in the Philippines must be Stopped
The Pambansang Kilusan ng mga Samahang Magsasaka (National Movement of Farmers Associations - PAKISAMA) condemns in strongest possible terms the April 27 dastardly assassination of Florita “Nang Flor” Caya (58), General Manager of a local indigenous peoples’ organization (UTCEL) and Vice-President of a national rural peasant women organization (LAKAMBINI) affiliated to PAKISAMA Confederation. According to police autopsy/investigation, at 7 PM of April 27, 2011, while tending her store at the poblacion of Monkayo, Compostela Valley, Florita “Nang Flor” Caya (58) was shot at the back o ...
4Yr / A / F / Mandaya / Florita Caya / Compostela Valley
Statement on the killing of Nang Flor Caya in the Philippines
The Secretariat of the International Land Coalition (ILC) has been informed of the shooting of Florita “Nang Flor” Caya (58), General Manager of a local indigenous peoples’ organization (UTCEL) and Vice-President of a national rural peasant women organization (LAKAMBINI-PAKISAMA Confederation) and wants to express its outrage at such a brutal killing. Nang Flor raised two children by herself and has ten grandchildren.
At 7 PM of April 27, 2011, while tending her store at Monkayo, Compostela Valley, Nang Flor was shot in the back of her head. Witnesses saw a man hurriedly walking away ...
4Yr / A / F / Mandaya / Florita Caya / Compostela Valley
Tribal leaders press end of large scale mining and other projects destroying lumad culture
Some 100 lumad leaders from Mindanao gathered for a Datu-Bai Conference calling for the stop of large-scale mining and other development projects that are destroying the ecology and Lumad ancestral domain.
The gathering continues at the San Isidro Labrador Parish, Digos City with a cultural gathering today and press conference tomorrow.
The traditional leaders include tribes from the Bagobo, Ata-Manobo, Matigsalug, Obo and Manobo in the Davao Region, B'laan and T'boli in Socsksargen, Higaonon, Kaolo, Banwaon and Talaandig in Northern Mindanao, Subanen in Zamboanga Region and Manobos in C ...
4Yr / A / F / Aeta / Aboitiz Power / Davao Del Sur
Cordillera Indigenous Peoples Raise Alarm Against Aggressive Mining Policy of Aquino Government
A national alliance of indigenous peoples’ groups has once again raised the alarm against the effects of foreign-controlled large-scale mining.
“This is an issue of life-and-death not only for the indigenous peoples but also for the whole nation. If all of the mining projects will push through, the damage on the environment and on the people’s lives would be irreparable,” Joan Jaime of Kalipunan ng mga Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas (Kamp) said.
A national alliance of indigenous peoples’ groups has once again raised the alarm against the effects of foreign-controlled ...
5Yr / A / F / Aeta / SMI Xstrata / National / Abra River
Heartbeat Of Davao City Lumad From Manobo Tribe Plays Koglong Folk Music
This is a dying piece of Folk Music from the Manobo Tribe - a Lumad (Native) of Davao City.
When I was still a child, I used to see them in their colorful native costumes... and perform really subliminal tunes to some extent can be compared to most techno trance music.
However, the beat of this folk music is unique... it humms a monotonous chord or key which the jumpy melody played in a slightly hurried beat soothes the senses...
At any rate... it stimulates the mind... I will try to find more about them in these modern times.
http://angbayankongpinas.blogspot.com
5Yr / A / F / Davao Del Sur
Bridging Leadership In Mindanao For Cultural And Environmental Stability
A key learning for ESSC as it continues to work in Mindanao is the need to engage with the youth, especially young adults in lumad [1] communities, if stability and sustainability are to be sought for their cultures, their environment, and their resources.
This is a strategic sectoral shift, even as efforts are continued and sustained with upland communities and local governments in natural resource management.
With support from Misereor , ESSC is exploring a three-year work activity titled Bridging Leadership in Mindanao (BLM) in three selected areas in Mindanao, engaging with its indig ...
Mandayas furious over PMDC issued cease and desist order
Indigenous people mostly belonging to the Mandaya community here were enraged over the cease and desist order (CDO) issued by the Philippine Mining Development Corporation (PMDC) to stop mining operation within the Tribal Mining Area (Trima).
On June 25, Friday, they held a sort of rally along the road at Sitio Mibatas brandishing their traditional hunting gears — spears and arrows, while wearing the Mandaya distinctive red garb.
Members of the Mandaya community in Upper Ulip organized a Panawag-tawag ritual officiated by a “baylan” (shaman) who appealed to diwatas (fairies) to pro ...
5Yr / A / F / Mandaya / Carlito Chavez / PMDC / Compostela Valley / Mt Diwata Diwalwal
Mining Globalization Eroding Cordillera Peoples Steadfast Watch Over Environment
High in the mountains comfortably nestled upon the lofty heights of the Cordillera mountain ranges, tribes hold the key to information that can unlock a model of conservation. For them it is not about trees, animals, and plants; it is a way of life. It is a life that provides a playing and training ground for their children, and as they nurture the land, they are nurtured by it. It is their wealth.
The indigenous Igorot (a collective name for the tribes of the Cordillera) practice the development and management of centuries-old forests, rice land, home gardens, watersheds where forest deni ...
6Yr / A / F / Ifugao / Nueva Vizcaya
PMDC Reiterates Its No Tribe Left Behind Policy
The Joint Operating Agreement (JOA) signed by PMDC last year (June 17, 2009) with the four tribes of the Diwalwal Mineral Reservation was truly a milestone. It manifests PMDC’s concrete support for the indigenous peoples of Compostela Valley in taking an active role with the development of this highly mineralized area.
PMDC President and CEO urged the tribal leaders of the Manobo, Mandaya, Dibabawon and Manguangan tribes then to stay united and select their ‘operator of choice’ after undergoing a process consistent with their tribal traditions.
The non-tribal partner would provide ...
6Yr / A / F / Mandaya / Comval Tribal Resources / Compostela Valley / Mt Diwata Diwalwal
Mining Caraga Report 2009 Environmental and Human Rights Issues
Caraga is located in the northeast section of Mindanao. It has four (4) provinces, three (3) cities, seventy‐one (71) municipalities and 1,306 barangays with a land area of 1,884,697 hectares, representing 6.3% of the country’s total land area and 18.5% 0f Mindanao’s.
It is made up mostly of mountainous areas, flat and rolling lands. The Diwata Mountain Ranges divide the Agusan and Surigao provinces and sub‐ranges separate most of the lowlands along the Pacific Coast. Most productive agriculture area lies along the Agusan River Basin. The famous Agusan Marsh sits in the midd ...
6Yr / A / F / Banwaon / Mampaagi Belayong / Atlas Mining ACMDC / Surigao Del Norte / Agusan River
Diwalwal IPs now allowed to mine
Indigenous peoples (IPs) of Mt. Diwalwal in Monkayo, Compostela Valley can now start extracting resources from a tribal mining area within the 8,100-hectare mineral reservation area.
Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) XI Regional Director Jim O. Sampulna bared the recent signing of an operating agreement, between the Philippine Mining Development Corporation (PMDC) and the Mt. Diwalwal indigenous cultural communities of Mandaya, Manobo, Manguagan and Dibabawon.
Covering 950 hectares, the operating agreement was signed on June 17, 2009 at the DENR Central Office in the ...
6Yr / A / F / Mandaya / PMDC / Compostela Valley / Mt Diwata Diwalwal
PMDC Signs Operating Agreement with Four Tribes of Diwalwal
The signing of the Operating Agreement between the Philippine Mining Development Corporation (PMDC) and the Indigenous People of Diwalwal (representing the four tribes in the area: the Mandaya, Manobo, Manguangan, and Dibabawon) on June 17, 2009 marked a significant step towards the socio-economic development of the indigenous cultural community.
The event likewise concretizes PMDC’s Trident Plan for Diwalwal which promotes a three-pronged approach to achieve its goals.
These are:
a) improving the quality of life of the people within the gold rush area;
b) establishing a succe ...
6Yr / A / F / Mandaya / Carlito Chavez / PMDC / Compostela Valley / Mt Diwata Diwalwal
Journey of Solidarity in Defense of the People Resisting Oppression in Southern Mindanao
We are participants –local, national and international delegates-- of the International Solidarity Mission: A Journey of Solidarity in Defense of the People Resisting Oppression in Southern Mindanao. In the next two days, we will be visiting areas of armed conflict to probe the effects of the government's counter-insurgency campaign among the peasant folks of New Bataan, Diwalwal, Monkayo, Compostela town, all of Compostela Valley; Paquibato district and Sta. Cruz town, Davao del Sur, and Polomolok and Marbel, and Tampakan in Socsksargen.
We consider the solidarity mission opportune espe ...
6Yr / A / F / Mandaya / Eliezer Boy Billanes / Glencore Xstrata / National
Kalumaran on the killing of Leodinio Monson
Monson’s death ironically comes exactly one year after the killing of fellow outspoken leader Datu Dominador Diarog, the K’lata-Manobo leader of Kahusayan, Brgy. Guianga, Tugbok, Davao City who resisted the land-grabbing activities of a local evangelist.
Like Diarog, Monson led his community’s struggle against encroachments on their ancestral domain, this time against large-scale mining activities of Australian-owned Omega Gold Mining Company.
The killing of Monson and Diarog shows that Lumad leaders who fight “development aggression” in the form of large-scale mining, logging, ...
6Yr / A / F / Lumad / Ludenio Monzon / Omega Gold Mining / Davao Oriental
Cantilan LGU Officials Farmers Religious Organizations Firm No to Mining
The Religious, headed by Cantilan Parish Priest, Fr. Pete Ubalde SSJV in cooperation with Mayor Tomasa C. Guardo, the Sanggunian Bayan and CarCanMadCarlan Baywatch Foundation, held a prayer rally at the town kiosk on September 26, 2008.
In her welcome speech, Emma Hotchkiss, Baywatch President stated that the rally was a clear message to Congressman Philip Pichay, Governor Vicente Pimentel, the Association of Barangay Captains, and the DENR that the people of Cantilan do not want Marcventures Mining and Development Corporation (MMDC) and Carac-an Development Corporation (CDC) to operate in ...
7Yr / A / F / Dr. Isidro Olan / Carac-an CDC / Surigao Del Sur
Mining companies looking to increase militarization across the Philippines
Philippine green groups today cautioned the Environment Secretary against supporting larger deployments of military and police personnel to protect the operations of foreign mining firms such as Xstrata in South Cotabato, warning that this would give rise to even more conflict and human rights violations against mining-affected communities.
In a statement, Clemente Bautista Jr., National Coordinator of Kalikasan Peoples' Network for the Environment (Kalikasan PNE), challenged current Environment Secretary Lito Atienza to reverse his earlier position favoring more military and police presenc ...
8Yr / A / F / Lumad / Climax Arimco Mining / National / Mt Diwata Diwalwal
Mining is root of military operations in Lumad lands in Surigao
In Lianga, Surigao del Sur, some 1,500 Lumad residents evacuated from their homes. Not because they were hit by typhoon Lando or Mina, but the onslaught of military operations.
At present, 254 families or 1,511 individuals (492 are children) are now housed in evacuation centers. The majority of evacuees are Lumad indigenous peoples. Barangay Diatagon and San Agustin in Lianga is the ancestral land of Lumad tribes.
“There’s no denying the fact that more than a thousand Lumad tribesmen fled their homes in Lianga, Surigao del Sur. Equally irrefutable is that military elements are occupy ...
8Yr / A / F / Lumad / Benguet BNMI / Surigao Del Sur
20 Public Schools Pilot Lumad Curriculum In Mindanao
The curriculum, based on the Department of Education's basic elementary and high school curricula, is offered in areas where at least 70 percent of the student population are from Mindanao 's indigenous peoples.
IIPE coordinated with the DepEd in developing and implementing the indigenized curriculum to provide culturally relevant content and strategies, Gonos told MindaNews Wednesday.
"This will liberate the students in indigenous communities from cultural discrimination brought about by the largely Western educational system and help maximize their participation in society," she said
...
9Yr / A / F / Talaingod / Davao Del Sur
Activist working for indigenous communities killed
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) regrets to inform you that another human rights activist, Mateo Morales, has been killed. Morales was killed in his house in San Luis, Agusan del Sur, Mindanao on 24 January 2006. Morales suffered a fatal gunshot wound to his chest and died on his way to hospital. Although the perpetrator has not been identified, there are indications that he may have had connections with the civilian militia unit, the Citizens Armed Forces Geographical Unit (Cafgu), attached to the 29th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army operating in the area.
Days after Mora ...
10Yr / A / F / Banwaon / CAFGU / Agusan Del Sur
NGO Worker Mateo Morales Murdered in His Home
In the early evening of 24 January 2006, Mateo Morales was shot and killed at his home in Brgy. Dona Flavia, San Luis, Agusan Del Sur province. Morales was a talented and dedicated indigenous rights worker of the Religious of the Good Shepherd's Tribal Filipino Ministry, which assists Banwaon and Manobo tribal communities in Agusan del Sur.
His brutal and cowardly murder is one of the latest incidents in a systematic program of violence and intimidation that began last year, directed against the Tribal Filipino Ministry and its partner communities.
Among the reported incidents are ...
10Yr / A / F / Banwaon / Mateo Morales / CAFGU / Agusan Del Sur
Ethnocide The state of Affairs of the Indigenous Peoples of the Philippines
The Indigenous Peoples of the Philippines. The Philippines is an archipelago and mountainous country approximately covering about 30 million hectares of land. It is comprised of 7,100 islands grouped along three geographical regions of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao that stretch from north to south.
With a population of 75 million, the country is also home to around 42 indigenous peoples groups who comprise approximately 10 – 12% of the total national populace.
Indigenous peoples of the Philippines were borne of colonial period. Strictly speaking, all Filipinos born in the Philippines can ...
11Yr / A / F / Aeta / National / San Roque Dam
The Situation of the Indigenous Peoples in the Philippines
The Philippines is an archipelago and mountainous country approximately covering 30 million hectares of land surrounded by the Pacific, China and Celebes Seas. It comprises 7,100 islands with major islands grouped into three major geographical regions: Luzon in the north, Visayas in the central region, and Mindanao in the south.
It is home to around 140 ethnolinguistic groups who comprise more or less 10 to 12% of the total population of approximately 72 million Filipinos. Interchangeably, they are called “indigenous peoples” or “national minorities”. Unlike other indigenous peoples ...
11Yr / A / F / Aeta / Climax Arimco Mining / National / Sierra Madre Mountains
Deep Into Banwaon Lands A Virtual Garrison
Under cover of darkness and the bushes, armed men clad in fatigue uniforms crawled towards the large hut where Banwaon, Talaandig and leaders had gathered in late November for a two-day meeting to discuss their problems and propose solutions.
Not one among the Lumad leaders, members of non-government organizations and journalists, noticed the armed men until a young Banwaon boy in a neighboring hut, armed with a bolo, cried out, "Who's there?" Then to the Lumad leaders, the boy shouted, "soldiers!" Some tribal leaders rushed to confront the armed men who broke into the compound of the Reli ...
14Yr / A / F / Banwaon / Shannalyne Inc / Agusan Del Sur