Originally Published on February 18, 2021
Written by Larah Jane Taculao and Phoebe Bacolod
On February 15, a Lumad Bakwit School in the University of San Carlos – Talamban, Cebu Branch, was raided by the state forces under the guise of a “Rescue Operation”, resulting in the arrest of twenty-six (26) Lumad children and teachers. Lumad people are one of the indigenous groups who are continuously fighting for their rights to education by seeking refuge in different places. As of February 17, 2021, nineteen (19) minors are currently in the custody of the Cebu City Department of Social Welfare, while the seven (7) others were sued in Davao del Norte for serious illegal detention and kidnapping. However, the Cebu DSWD belied the police’s claims that these 19 Lumad children are being brainwashed to rebel against the government, stating that only reading and writing lessons are being taught by their teachers.
In the turbulent years of Duterte’s fascist regime, there have been 178 Lumad schools that are shut down since 2016 according to Save Our Schools Network. Schools are supposed to be one of the safest zones for everyone, including the indigenous youth, but now they are experiencing harassment and threats to security.
President Duterte even threatened to bomb Lumad schools in Mindanao during a national television broadcast in 2017. He insisted that the students and teachers are rebels under the Communist Party of the Philippines’ armed wing New People’s Army.
Moreover, an indigenous tribe from Mindoro – the Mangyans, have been experiencing political menace as they are being forced to leave their ancestral domain due to business interests. Also, different indigenous people’s humanitarian organizations such as CPA (Cordillera People’s Alliance) and Oxfam Philippines have been labeled as communist terrorist groups to quell legitimate struggles of different indigenous groups such as the right to self-determination and land rights. As a result of the government’s incompetence and inadequate planning for social justice, all their problems will remain unsolved and disregarded, and the very ending will always be in the same forms of abuses: forcible closure of schools, killings, forced evacuation, faked rebel surrenders, trumped-up charges, among others.
Even if there’s a law, particularly the Republic Act No. 8371 that has been created to recognize, protect and promote the rights of indigenous cultural communities, their legitimate struggles, however, are being ignored.
In addition, two Aetas from Zambales named Japer Gurung and Junior Ramos are known to be charged under the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 for reportedly engaging in a shooting spree, and allegedly killed a soldier last August 2020. The National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) filed a petition against the state’s draconian law before the Supreme Court. The Aetas legal counsel said that these two are charged and detained at the Olongapo City jail and that they are not only facing violation of the Anti-Terrorism Law but also the cases of illegal possession of firearms and explosions.
According to Atty. Edre Olalia, NUPL President, in Inquirer’s report, the two Aetas and their families were aggressively approached by the forces of AFP’s 73rd Infantry Division, and were planted firearms and explosives on them, and branded as members of NPA.
“The available facts and circumstances we received so far from our colleagues on NUPL – Central Luzon indicates that the charges were a way of reprisal against unarmed civilians for the death of a soldier in an alleged encounter with the NPAs in the area,” Atty. Olalia said.
“So it proves that almost anything can be controlled to fit the broad and vague definition of terrorism under the Anti-Terror Act,” he added.
A further factor of the state’s persistent coercion against indigenous people’s rights is the situation of Aetas in Bamban, Tarlac. Last December, the University of Caloocan City College of Liberal Arts and Sciences spearheaded by the Psychology and Behavioral Science Department conducted their annual event for a gift-giving program. Beyond the traditional event of the said department is the long-time conflict of Aetas in their ancestral domains. Just like the other minority groups, the Aetas in Bamban, Tarlac are being forced to evacuate and leave the land of their forefathers to convert their lands into destructive megaprojects of big businesses.
The continued human rights violation against the national minorities have been happening over the years. It is indeed that the state’s deep-seated social regimentation to invalidate the rights to education of the minorities and to deny their access to social justice proves that this fascist regime is barely coward from individuals who have learned his bogus propaganda.
While the indigenous people continue the fight for their life and identity at their utmost capacity, considering that their lives are at stake in the hands of Duterte, it is also our duty as citizens of this country to be active in the struggle for national democracy and to protect the interests of the Filipino youth and people.
TNC of the North 