My Wit's End

5,000 human rights victims picket Army camp

12/10/2009 at 2:48 pm | Posted in My Wit's End | Leave a comment
Tags: cagayan de oro city, human rights, karapatan, lumad, mobilization, philippine army, picket

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—A first in this city, at least 5,000 lumads, peasants, youth, church people and professionals picketed the base camp of the 4th Infantry “Diamond” Division here, in commemoration of the 62nd International Human Rights Day, midmorning yesterday.
On board 40 trucks, the contingent caravanned to Camp Edilberto Evangelista, Barangay Patag, this city, which caused a traffic jam. The caravan jumped off from Pelaez Sports Center, downtown where they held a concert-forum the night before.

However, the contingent, composed mostly of lumads from St. Peter, Malaybalay, Bukidnon, waited for almost an hour at the junction going to the camp under the heat of the searing sun as picket organizers weighed whether to breach the MP line or picket at a distance.

“We have to endure this heat even if it burns our skin because we could not take the abuses of the military in our community anymore,” Bae Lingling, a Higaonon who hails from Bukidnon, said in the dialect.

Lawyer Beverly Selim-Musni, Karapatan-Northern Mindanao chair was able to negotiate with 1Lt. Julius Ursua, commanding officer of the 4ID Military Police Company to let the contingent enter albeit 100 meters shy from the camp’s main gates.

At the gates, about 20 to 25 unarmed soldiers with anti-riot shields stood guard while 30 personnel from the Cagayan de Oro City Police Office (COCPO) spread within the vicinity.

In an interview, P/Sr. Insp. Lemuel Gonda, station commander of COCPO Police Station said their presence were to ensure the security of the contingent.

“We have deployed 30 policemen from different police stations in the city to boost security outside the camp,” said Gonda adding that their directives in dealing with the picketers were for maximum tolerance. Gonda estimated the contingent size at around 5,000 individuals.

In an earlier statement, 4ID Spokesperson Maj. Michelle Anayron said that the contingent is free to launch a rally and that they could even enter the camp but they should register first at the gates. However, because of the size of the contingent, he said they could not accommodate everybody inside.

For her part, Selim-Musni declined the invitation saying a dialogue was not part of the scheduled activity.

“I thank the 4ID for such invitation but the activity is only to stage a picket in front of the camp,” she said.

Promotion of Church Peoples Response (PCPR) Chair Fr. Antonio Ablon told local media here that the daring picket was meant to show the 4ID that the people, especially the lumads, have had enough of what they claimed as massive militarization in the countryside.

“Mianhi kita diri arun ipakita nga ang katawhan suko na sa mga gipangbuhat nga kapalasan sa military sa tawhanong katungod (We came here to show the people are angry and have had enough of the human rights abuses committed by the military),” said Ablon.

“Wala mahadlok ang mga katawhang lumad (The indigenous peoples are not afraid anymore),” he added.

Datu Jomorito Goaynon, chair of Kalumbay—a federation of indigenous peoples in the region—scored the military for the human rights abuses against their members.

Toting a bullhorn, Goaynon described the alleged atrocities of soldiers in their ancestral domains. He claimed that the massive militarizations in the countryside are just to pave the entry of foreign Mining Corporations out to plunder their ancestral domains.

“Ilang palupok na kontra insurhensya ang ilang presensya apan ang katuyoan niini para masayon na dayon pagsulod sa mga dagkong korporasyon aron i-mina ang among yutang kabilin (They justify their presence under the pretext of counter insurgency. But the real reason is for big corporation to gain entry and mine our ancestral domains),” yelled Goaynon.

Adelfa Belayong, wife of slain lumad leader Datu Mampaagi Belayong, recounted the alleged abuses their family endured under the 8th Infantry Battalion in St. Peter, Malaybalay, Bukidnon.

After an hour-long program, the contingent dispersed themselves back to their trucks and went downtown to the Capitol Grounds, Velez St., this city, where they had their lunch.

In the afternoon, the entire contingent of 5,000 marched towards Kiosko Kagawasan in D. V. Soria. From Capitol Grounds they passed the national highway then took a left turn towards Cogon Market, then using the inner city streets, the contingent inched their way to D. V. Soria, causing a major traffic gridlock in the city’s thoroughfares.

The contingent demands include the immediate pullout of troops in the ancestral domains of lumads in Northern Mindanao and for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s accountability to the deplorable human rights situation in the country.