4 September 2015 - AIPP strongly condemns the continued brutal killings of Lumads in Mindanao of the Philippines at the hands of paramilitary groups and security forces. At least 13 Lumad human rights defenders and community members, including two children, have been killed in five incidents of extrajudicial killings and four massacres in the past eight months, with the recent killings of Emerito Samarca, Executive Director of a tribal school, and two other Lumad leaders in Surigao del Sur on 1 September. In the aftermath of the killings, more than 4000 Lumads evacuated to a neighboring village due to fear for their safety, and schools have been closed down.
The targeted killings of Emerito Samarca, regarded as pioneer of alternative education system for disadvantaged indigenous youth, and the two tribal leaders, once again unleashes the spate of state-sponsored terror against its own people, especially the Lumads in Mindanao. Less than two weeks ago, military had allegedly massacred five farmers in Bukidnon – two of them were minors. This has brought the total number of extrajudicial killings to 68 under the incumbent Aquino regime. In almost all of the killings, the victims were falsely framed as members and supporters of New Peoples Army. Ground reports show that all the victims of recent spate of killings were innocent civilians – among them, some were leaders and advocates of the Lumads’ rights.
The increasing figure of extrajudicial killings under the current Aquino government, particularly targeting Lumads and other indigenous peoples in the Philippines, is a clear indication of its failure to protect and respect the inherent rights to life and dignity of its citizens. Killings of innocent civilians at the hands of paramilitary and security forces are gross violations of human rights that demand immediate justice.
AIPP is deeply alarmed by the fact that the reason behind heavy militarization of Lumad communities in Mindanao – half of all the Armed Forces of the Philippines are deployed in the region – is merely to protect the interests of mining companies and other corporate entities to loot and plunder the vast mineral resources from Lumad lands and territories. The use of excessive violence by State security forces to respond to the Lumads’ legitimate defense of their rights to land, territories and resources against plunder and land grabbing is resulting in gross human rights violations. By now, thousands of Lumads are living in evacuation camps across the region because of this militarization.
Fresh incidents of violence, despite strong recommendations of the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons after his recent country visit to the Philippines, including to the region of Mindanao, in August clearly demonstrate the lack of political will of the Government to adhere to its international human rights obligations. They also exemplify the worsening discrimination against and unjust treatment of indigenous peoples, including the right to education of indigenous children. Asserting that some leaders and members of the indigenous communities have been killed over the past years reportedly due to their anti-mining activities, the Special Rapporteur urged the Government, in consultation with indigenous peoples, to give greater attention to addressing the causes of displacement whether it is due to the militarization of their areas or development projects.
Victims of any of the killings and massacres have not been provided justice. AIPP denounces, in the strongest terms, the prevailing culture of impunity for such heinous crimes. The immunity provided to paramilitary and security forces as an integral part of Aquino’s counter-insurgency program ‘Oplan Bayanihan’ must end if it is to provide any justice to the victims.
AIPP calls on the concerned Filipino authorities to promptly conduct an independent and transparent investigation of all the extrajudicial killings under the current regime. It appeals for an immediate end to the militarization in indigenous communities, including termination of the counter-insurgency program ‘Oplan Bayanihan’, withdrawal of military and paramilitary troops from the communities and dismantling of private armies. It also urges the Government to revoke the Executive Order 546, which legitimizes formation of such paramilitary groups.
Further, AIPP appeals to the Filipino government to immediately stop all destructive projects in ancestral territories, including mining, hydroelectricity and logging and uphold the rights of indigenous peoples, including their rights to lands, territories and resources and self-determination, in line with its international human rights obligations. AIPP also calls on the government to implement the recommendations of the former Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Philip Alston, contained in his report to the Human Rights Council A/HRC/11/2/Add.8 29 April 2009 and the recommendations of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons, Chaloka Beyani, with regards to the situation of internally displaced indigenous peoples.

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MANILA - Amid growing outrage over the recent killings of tribal leaders running alternative schools for the lumad, soldiers who hail from indigenous tribes in Mindanao have been trained to become instructors of government’s Alternative Learning System, the Army’s 4th Infantry Division said Sunday.

This, as leaders of a support group for indigenous communities said Sunday the aggrieved Lumad may raise the issue of deliberate murders of indigenous peoples (IPs) before the courts or even international tribunals.

According to them, 68 people have been summarily killed since 2010, including 13 lumad who were killed since March 2015.

The military's announcement that soldiers from IP groups have been trained to take over the schools evoked a jarring note to the outcry against the recent killings, the latest being the Sept. 1 murder of an award-winning lumad educator and two IPs.

According to a statement from the 4th ID, at least 24 soldiers who come from tribes in Region 10 and Caraga completed their ALS Instructor Training in Camp Evangelista, Cagayan de Oro Saturday afternoon.

The training was conducted with the Department of Education Region 10.

The 4th ID commander, Major General Oscar Lactao, thanked DepEd regional office and exhorted the soldiers to “use this training as a tool that will be shared to the people living in far-flung communities. Take this as an opportunity to become role models and future leaders of the nation.”

Nearly 3,000 evacuees

Meanwhile, nearly 3,000 residents of hinterland communities in Surigao del Sur, mostly Manobo, have evacuated to the provincial capital Tandag City following the killing of Emerito Samarca, executive director of the Alternative Learning Center for Agricultural and Livelihood Development, and the execution of tribal leaders Dionel Campos and his cousin Bello Sinzo.

The ALCADEV is an award-winning tribal school in Barangay Diatagon, Lianga town that the military has often accused of advocating support for communist rebels.

The three were killed by a tribal militia, the Magahat, according to initial reports, but subsequent eyewitness accounts indicate that troops of some units of the 4th ID may have been involved in the deaths of Campos and Sinzo.

Campos and Sinzo were publicly executed by heavy gunfire, while Samarca’s body was found with multiple stab wounds and his throat slit ear-to-ear inside a classroom the IPs had built in Diatagon, according to a report by Karapatan human rights group.

Surigao del Sur Governor Johnny Pimentel has demanded that the Army immediately disband the militias, whom he blames for repeated evacuations of hinterland residents for the past six years.

The Army helped in creating this militia group, the governor said, adding, "they should find a means to stop and put an end to them.”

The human rights group Karapatan said in a news release Sunday the number of lumad (indigenous people) forced to evacuate their homes in Surigao del Sur have swollen to more than 2,700 as military and para-military operations continue,

Karapatan identified the military and para-military groups that are frightening people away from their homes and communities as the 36th Infantry Battalion, 75th Infantry Battalion, Special Forces of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), and the groups of Marcos Bocales and Marcial Belandres.

The evacuees come from 21 lumad communities in the four hinterland municipalities of Surigao del Sur (Lianga, San Agustin, San Miguel, and Tago), it added.

Karapatan said nine tribal schools have been closed down as the evacuation affects 676 students and 47 teachers.

Ethnocide?

Relatedly, the Community-Based Health Programs (CBHPs) of the Philippines has demanded justice for Samarca, Campos and Sinzo.

Dr. Eleanor A. Jara, executive director of the Council for Health and Development (CHD), which supervises CBHPs, said the barbarism committed against Samarca, Campos and Sinzo was similar to that inflicted on a community health worker and her husband in Negros Oriental several months ago.

All the murdered IP leaders were known to be opposed to the operations of mining companies like Nickel Asia and SR Metals, both of which are owned by financial backers of Liberal Party presidential contender and Interior Secretary Mar Roxas like Salvador “Buddy” Zamora and Eric Gutierrez.

Caloocan City Rep. Edgar Erice is also identified with SR Metals, but has claimed in earlier interviews he had divested himself os his interest in the firm.

According to Kalipunan ng Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas (Katribu) secretary general Piya Macliing Malayao, the total number of victims of summary killings since Aquino took over in 2010 has risen to 68 and the 13 who died since March 2015 all belong to Lumad communities.

One IP leader was also snatched, 99 were harassed, trumped-charges were filed against 176 leaders and members of indigenous groups, and seven have been imprisoned.

Minority communities were also bombed nine times and communities were forced to evacuate 44 times, Katribu said.

Ethnocide is the deliberate destruction of a culture as well as people belonging to a specific ethnic and linguistic stock.

Global courts
Party-list Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate of Bayan Muna said the aggrieved Lumads may raise the issue of deliberate murders of their fellow members of indigenous peoples (IPs) before the courts or even international tribunals.

He noted that Serbian leaders have been hauled off to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for the Srebrenica massacre in Bosnia decades ago.

Cristina Palabay, secretary general of the human rights watchdog Karapatan, said the reports about the grisly murders, along with testimonies from scores of witnesses, have already been furnished to United Nations Special Rappporteur (UNSR) on Extrajudicial Killing Christof Heyns and UNSR on Human Rights Defenders Michel Forst.

UNSR on the Human Rights of Displaced Persons Cheloka Beyani also came to know the plight of 700 Lumad evacuees at the Haran Compound of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) in Davao City in July 2015 and even became the victim of the military, who claimed that the UN official admitted the evacuees were being held against their will by human rights advocates.

Jara, who heads the 64 members of CBHPs, said: “As fellow advocates of community welfare, the CBHPs condemn the continuous military-backed harassment and killing of community leaders. The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) continues to receive a huge chunk of the national budget and has boasted of using it for peace and development. On the contrary, human rights violations attributed to the military and military-backed units have only intensified within the Aquino administration -- nothing new since the martial law era.”

“The people of Mindanao, especially the indigenous people, are already deprived of social services and continue to suffer because of the massive land-grabbing, environmental destruction, mining-company incursions, and militarization. Like the CBHPs, organizations such as Alcadev and Mapasu support and unify these communities to attain the basic rights that the government has failed to provide,” Jara stressed.

“Attacks on community-based workers are attacks on the people themselves. It is imperative that paramilitary forces are disarmed, and the military pull out of IP communities. We call for an immediate and independent investigation into this recent spate of killings and the perpetrators of this heinous act be punished to the fullest extent of the law,” she added.

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MANILA - Relatives of three Lumad tribal leaders and teachers who were murdered in front of their community came to Manila to tell their story, and to call on the military to leave their village.
Members of the Manobo community in Han-ayan, Surigao del Sur said that in the early morning of September 1, a paramilitary group known to them as Magahat/Bagani entered the community and gathered all students and teachers of Alternative Learning Center for Agriculture and Livelihood (ALCADEV).
The group then isolated and murdered three of their educators.
Emerito Samarca, executive director of ALCADEV, was allegedly hogtied and stabbed, with his throat slit from ear to ear.
Dionel Campos, a Manobo and chairman of community-based educational NGO Mapasu, was allegedly made to lie face down in the ground before being shot in the back of the head right in front of their community.
Bello Sinzo, another Manobo, was allegedly tortured, bones broken, before being killed.
All these were recounted by Gary Payac, an ALCADEV teacher, who said he was among the community members who were gathered that morning.
Payac said on that night, the armed killers told the community to stop supporting the New People's Army, and to let major companies operate in the area.
Eufemia Cullamat, another Manobo who came to Manila, said they were certain that the Magahat/Bagani paramilitary group was organized by the Philippine Army itself because their own relatives and members were recruited.

Payac said that soldiers were already sleeping and staying in the community before the raid, but that they did nothing when the commotion happened.
He said it was impossible that the soldiers did not hear the gunshots and screaming when their houses and dormitories were being raided, and when the Lumad were being forced to gather at the center of the community. This further cemented their belief that the raid was sanctioned by the Army.
The Manobos who spoke denied they were members and supporters of the NPA.
Imelda Belandres, a cousin of the slain Campos, said they were taught by their father never to carry arms. Jose Campos, her brother, confirmed there are NPA fighters in the area but denied they are part of the group.
Lilian Laurezo of the group Save Our Schools CARAGA said the Han-ayan community is now deserted, and more than 2000 lumad are now in an evacuation center, similar to the situation in Haran, Davao City where another set of lumad are staying.
Those who spoke blame the Eastern Mindanao Command for the militarization of the tribal areas, and the human rights abuses.
AFP Public Affairs Chief Col. Noel Detoyato said these were mere allegations, and that the military would never sanction nor take part in any of those murders.
A military source said the CARAGA region has been identified as a recruitment hotbed for the NPA, and often community schools are used as a front for actual rebel training facilities.
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CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—A school for lumad children named after a murdered Italian missionary priest has been ordered closed amid suspicion it is being used by communist guerrillas as a breeding ground for new rebels.
The Fr. Fausto Tentorio Memorial School in the village of White Kulaman in Kitaokitao town was ordered closed by the village chief for its alleged links with the New People’s Army (NPA).
The order to close the school was issued by Felipe Cabugnason, village chief of White Kulaman. The order, telling school officials to voluntarily shut the school down or be forced to do so, was received by school officials on Thursday.
The order gave school officials two days to shut the school down.
The school, run by the Mindanao Interfaith Services Foundation Inc. (MISFI), was named after the Italian Roman Catholic priest, who was gunned down inside his parish compound in Arakan town, North Cotabato in October 2011. The murder case is unsolved.
Evelyn Cabangal, math and science teacher at the school, said the village chief wants the school closed supposedly for lack of a permit to operate from village officials and because it is a “threat” to peace and order in the community because of its alleged links with the NPA.
Cabangal said village chief Cabugnason also accused school officials of not paying for the lumber used to build the school.
Cabangal quoted Cabugnason as saying that “failure to comply with the said order within the time frame given would lead to the barangay council, together with the people in our barangay, going to where the school is located and we will automatically close the school.”
The order, dated Oct. 1, was addressed to Percinita G. Sanchez, MISFI executive director.
Cabangal said school officials were surprised at the village chief’s order because Cabugnason had supported the school’s application for Department of Education accreditation last year.
Cabangal said the school has complied with all requirements for a school to operate legally.
The school, she said, was opened following a request from the local farmers’ group, Naghiusang Mag-uuma sa Barangay White Kulaman, for a school in the village as the nearest school is “too far away.”
An hour’s hike from Kitaotao, the MISFI school has 55 Grades 7 and 8 students, all of whom are not charged tuition and other expenses.
The school also serves as a “boarding high school.”
Most students are lumad and children of indigent Bisaya and Ilonggo settlers, Cabangal said.
White Kulaman is the same village, where about 200 helicopter-borne police and Army troopers arrested 13 persons suspected of being communist rebels or supporters on Aug. 26.
All those arrested have been released after a court dropped charges of rebellion and illegal possession of firearms against them.
Christopher Ablon, Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI) priest and Karapatan Northern Mindanao region secretary general, decried the village chief’s closure order and said branding the school as “a school of the NPA” would justify the harassment of its teachers and students.
Ablon appealed to Lorenzo Giwalan, mayor of Kitaokitao town, and the municipal council to help the school “as we fear for the safety of the students and teachers.”
On Sept. 1, three lumad were also killed in Lianga town, Surigao del Sur province when militiamen raided a lumad school which had also been tagged as a communist front.
Capt. Joe Patrick Martinez, spokesperson of the Army’s 4th Infantry Division, confirmed that the military continues to conduct counterinsurgency operations in the village of White Kulaman.
Martinez said the mayor of Kitaokitao and the village chief of White Kulaman are the ones who had asked the military to stay in Kitaokitao.
“The people themselves did not want us to stop because they fear the NPA,” said Martinez.
Martinez also said the Army should not be blamed if students of the lumad school failed to attend classes. “The reason is they, too, fear the NPA,” he said. Inquirer Mindanao

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Lumad school director, 2 others killed in Lianga, Surigao Sur
ByMindanewson September 1 2015 6:55 pm
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 1 Sept) – The executive director of an alternative learning center for Indigenous Peoples (Lumads) and two other members were killed allegedly by paramilitary elements at 4 a.m. Tuesday in Lianga, Surigao del Sur, Karapatan-Caraga said in a press statement.
Killed were Emerito Samarca, 54, Executive Director of the Alternative Learning Center for Agriculture and Livelihood Development (Alcadev); Dionel Campos, chair of the Malahutayong Pakigbisog Alang sa Sumusunod (MAPASU), a Lumad organization protesting mining operations, land conversions and plantations; and Campos’ cousin, Bello Sinzo.
In a press statement, Karapatan-Caraga narrated that at around 4 a.m. on September 1, “known elements” of the Magahat-Bagani “opened fire at Dionel Campos and Aurelio Sinzo as community members in Km. 16, Han-ayan, Barangay Diatagon, Lianga, Surigao del Sur were roused from bed and forced to gather in the middle of the community early this morning.”
At around the same time, Samarca’s body “was found in one of the schoolrooms, tied around the neck and extremities, with a stab wound.”
Karapatan-Caraga noted that on August 30, after the two-day celebration of Alcadev’s foundation day, some elements of the Army’s 36thInfantry Battalion and Special Forces with members of the Magahat-Bagani Force “occupied the school’s function hall and areas within the school grounds.”
The Magahat “threatened to massacre the community should they not evacuate within two days,” the press statement said.
Capt. Al Anthony Pueblas, civil military operations officer of 36tB, told mindanews they were surprised their unit was implicated because the area is “not part of our jurisdiction.”
Karapatan-Caraga also reported that on August 31, MAPASU’s cooperative store was burned by the Magahat whose members allegedly “indiscriminately fired around the vicinity,” prompting residents of Han-ayan and the school staff, as well as their guests, to seek refuge in Km. 16.
But as the residents were preparing to leave for Km. 16, “Samarca was detained at the Alcadev grounds by some members of the Magahat,” Karapatan-Caraga said.
“This was the last time that he was seen alive,” it said.
Karapatan-Caraga also said “all cellphones and cameras of the residents, faculty and staff were seized by the Magahat before pulling out from Km. 16 after the killing.”
“This is a clear indication of collusion between the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) and the armed Magahat-Bagani Forces,” said Eliza Pangilinan, Karapatan-Caraga secretary general.
“Despite the obvious presence of the military who are purportedly there for internal security, these killings continue to happen with impunity,” she said,
“We call on the law enforcement agencies and the local prosecutors to seriously investigate the increasing spate of killings that are perpetrated by these groups. Instead of filing charges against activists, left and right, they should look at the apparent connection between the military and these armed paramilitary groups, file charges and arrest them and bring a stop to impunity. This is the only way that communities can truly feel secure,” Panganiban said.
Members of the Magahat-Bagani Forces led by Marcos Bocales were also implicated in the killing of Henry Alameda and Aldren Dumaguit on October 24, 2014.
In Quezon City, Karapatan national office said in a media advisory that activists led by Karapatan, Hustisya and the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan scheduled a candlelight protest along E. Rodriguez Avenue, in front of the Quezon City Sports Club, to demand justice for the victims.
The commander of the 36IB could not be reached for comment.
Kalumaran-Caraga said Samarca was married with four children. He was a member of the Alcadev staff since its founding and became Executive Director in 2012. He worked with SILDAP-SIDLAKAN, a Lumad support institution in Caraga, from 1990 to 1998 and with the Union sa Mag-uuma sa Agusan del Norte-Kilusang Magbubukid sa Pilipinas (UMAN-KMP) in the 1980s.
Campos became chair of MAPASU in 2004.
“There are 26 faculty and staff of Alcadev that are with the evacuees from Km 16 now while about 40 families from Km 16 and Han-ayan have evacuated and are in Brgy. Diatagon, Lianga on their way to Tandag City,” Karapatan-Caraga said.

Read morehttp://www.mindanews.com/top-stories/2015/09/01/lumad-school-director-2-others-killed-in-lianga-surigao-sur/

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MANILA, Philippines -- (UPDATE 3 - 2:56 p.m.) In what may be the worst in a series of recent attacks on indigenous people in Mindanao, militiamen allegedly murdered the head of a tribal school, the chairman of a lumad organization and one other person in Lianga town, Surigao del Sur early Tuesday morning.
Josephine Pagalan, spokesperson of the Kahugpungn sa mga Lumad-Caraga or KASALU, a regional federation of indigenous people’s organizations, told InterAksyon.com by phone that Dionel Campos, chairman of the Malahutayong Pakigbisog Alang Sa Sumusunod or MAPASU, and his cousin Bello Sinzo, were executed at KM16, Han-ayan, Barangay Diatagon in front of hundreds of residents of at least six sitios who had been ordered out of their homes by gunmen of the Magahat militia around 4 a.m.
The executions were also witnessed by teachers and students of the Alternative Learning Center for Agricultural and Livelihood Development or ALCADEV, who had been roused from their dormitories at the school and ordered to join the residents at KM16.

MAPASU chairman Dionel Campos, who was executed Tuesday by militiamen, attending a meeting at the ALCADEV school. (photo courtesy of Karapatan-Caraga)
When the militia withdrew after killing the two, the teachers and students returned to the ALCADEV compound to find the school’s executive director, Emerito Samarca, who had been ordered to stay behind, dead in a room, his throat slit and stabbed in the stomach, his hands and feet bound with rope.
Two days before the killings, troops of the Army's 36th Infantry Battalion and Special Forces Regiment arrived in Diatagon on August 30, just two days after ALCADEV celebrated its 11th founding anniversary, occupying the school and village, as well as another school run by the NGO, Tribal Filipino Program of Surigao del Sur, or TRIFPSS.
Karapatan-Caraga said the Magahat, said the human rights group, arrived August 31 and immediately burned the MAPASU cooperative and fired their weapons, sending residents and school staff fleeing to KM16. However, they detained Samarca.

Emerito Samarca (center read, with glasses) during the celebration of ALCADEV's foundation day. (photo courtesy of Karapatan-Caraga)
Pagalan, who was having the incident recorded at the Lianga police station when interviewed, told InterAksyon.com that early Tuesday morning, Magahat gunmen went around their communities, "kicked the doors of houses, ordering the people out and telling them to gather at KM16.”
Pagalan said she herself had been staying with a daughter at KM16 who had just given birth.
When the residents had gathered there, she said, the militiamen “ordered us to stop supporting the NPA (New People’s Army) if we did not want to die.”
Campos was then ordered to sit down outside her daughter’s store where “he was shot in the head,” followed by Sinzo. “Silang tanan nagpaputok (They all fired their guns),” Pagalan said.
She said the Magahat then “warned us to leave our place within two days or we would be killed when they returned.” They confiscated cellular phones and cameras of residents before withdrawing.
Pagalan said the residents of Diatagon have agreed to flee and head to the provincial capital, Tandag City, to seek help from the government. Currently, Karapatan-Caraga said an initial 40 families from KM 16 and Han-ayan are on their way to Tandag with the bodies of the three victims.
In the wake of the murders, the human rights group said, the 38th IB and Special Forces troops "are conducting their usual patrols but no other actions are being taken as of this time."
Samarca, 54, left behind a wife and four children.
He had been with ALCADEV since its founding and became executive director in 2012. Before this, he worked with SILDAP-SIDLAKAN, a lumad support institution in Caraga from 1990-1998 and with theUnyon sa Mag-uuma sa Agusan del Norte or UMAN, an affiliate of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas in the 1980's, Karapatan said.
He had recently attended the International People's Conference on Mining held in Metro Manila from July 30 to August 1.

Manobo from Davao del Norte and Bukidnon provinces light candles on a map of Mindanao at Davao City's Freedom Park during a protest against the murder of Emerito Samarca, executive director of the ALCADEV school, Dionel Campos, chairman of the lumad organization MAPASU, and Campos' cousin Bello Sinzo, by members of the Magahat militi in Lianga, Surigao del Sur. (photo courtesy of Bayan Southern Mindanao Region)
Lawmakers from the Makabayan block immediately condemned the killing and demanded justice for the victims.
"There is a systematic operation to harass and kill lumad leaders. It is alarming," Gabriela party-list Representative Luz Ilagan said.
Ilagan said that the opposition to mining activities in the area could be behind the attacks.
Bayan Muna party-list Representative Carlos Zarate said "killings and human rights violations" have become the Aquino administration’s legacy to the lumad.
"The government's upkeep of paramilitary organizations is sustaining the state of impunity in our country. We denounce this recent killing of lumad leaders to the highest degree. We demand swift justice for these killings," he said.
"This new spate of lumad killings by paramilitary groups and suspected elements of the military is the result of President Aquino's extant policy of militarization of the countryside. This latest incident further highlights the continuing culture of impunity in a country with a very dismal record of protecting human rights," Kabataan Representative Terry Ridon said as he called on the House committee on human rights to act motu propio (on its own initiative) and investigate the killings.
This would be the second mass evacuation of residents from the lumad communities of Diatagon since last October when some 1,800 Manobo fled their homes after the murder of MAPASU council member Henry Sarsona Alameda, who was executed in front of his family allegedly by soldiers and militiamen, and Aldren Dumaguit.

Indigenous peoples advocates and activists stage a lighting protest along E. Rodriguez Avenu in Quezon City Tuesday afternoon to protest the Lianga murders. (photo courtesy of Makabayan)
The murder of Samarca, Campos and Sinzo happens on the heels of the reported evacuation of more than 300 lumad families in San Miguel, also in Surigao del Sur, after Bagani gunmen allegedly killedbrothers Crisanto and Ellie Tabogol in their home the evening of August 28.
Benedictine nun Stella Matutina, who is slated to receive a human rights award from Weimar, Germany for her work with indigenous people and peasant communities in Mindanao, said the San Miguel evacuation had brought the number of internally displaced families in San Miguel to 480 following the earlier evacuation of 45 Manobo families from another village.
The Surigao del Sur incidents are the most recent human rights violations against lumad in Mindanao allegedly committed by state security forces and paramilitary groups associated with them that followed the controversy surrounding last month’s attempt to force hundreds of Manobo refugees out of a church compound in Davao City where they have sought refuge and back to their villages.
Among the other incidents are the alleged massacre of five Manobo clansmen, including a blind 72-year old and his 14-year old grandson, in Pangantucan, Bukidnon; the arrest in Gingoog City of two Manobo brothers, including a former volunteer teacher of a tribal school; and the arrest of 14 persons, including officials of lumad and farmers’ groups and a 12-year old boy, in Kitao-tao, Bukidnon.
ALCADEV is one of several schools set up by nongovernmental and religious organizations in lumadcommunities where educations opportunities used to be non-existent. However, these schools have openly been accused by the military of advocating support for communist rebels.
Late last year and early this year, teachers and students from the tribal schools, including ALCADEV and TRIFPSS, went to Metro Manila to seek national government help to stop the occupation of the learning centers by soldiers and militiamen and attempts to shut them down. (with a report from Lira Dalangin-Fernandez, InterAksyon.com)

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