More killings feared in wake of Aquino’s support for paramilitary deployment in mining areas
The government remains blind to everything except the money that it
gets from the mining firms – but this money is tainted with our blood;
and no amount of money can ever compensate for the loss of our slain
tribal leaders who fought for our rights to our own lands.”
By INA ALLECO R. SILVERIO
Bulatlat.com
MANILA – In the immediate aftermath of President Benigno Aquino III’s
decision to support the call of the military to deploy paramilitary
groups in mining areas, leaders and members of indigenous groups have
sounded the alarm over the worsening militarization in their
communities.
Last October 11, six leading members of the indigenous people’s
organization Linundigan in Agusan del Sur went into hiding after feeling
extremely threatened by members of paramilitary forces. The six
individuals said they have strong reasons to believe that their lives
are in danger and that they are targets of a possible attack by the
paramilitary group Salakawan (“enforcer of all laws” in the local
dialect). Their group has chapters in the villages of Sinakongan,
Agsabo, Kinamaybay, Bakingking, Maasin and San Jose, all within the
municipality of Esperanza in Agusan del Sur.
Earlier in August, some 23 other individuals from the area,
including their families, were also forced to go into hiding because of
threats from the paramilitary group.
According to Linundigan, its officials and members are being targeted by Salakawan.
Only last June 30, the group’s director Arpe Belayong and his nephew
Solte San-ogan, a 21-year old deaf mute, were killed by elements of
Salakawan. Belayong was reportedly killed because of his refusal to
sign a document on ancestral domain. His signature was needed so loggers
could start operations within their ancestral domain.
Belayong’s children, Michelle Belayong, 14, and Adeb Belayong, four
years old, were also injured in the attack, sustaining gunshot wounds
in the back. Belayong’s widow Maysee and her children were forced to
leave their former home. In a report by human rights group Karapatan,
the Salakawan members involved in the attack were armed with a garand
M1, M14 and carbine rifles. Seen among them was a man known to be a
member of the security detail of Mayor Nida Manpatilan, wife of former
Mayor Deo Manpatilan..... MORE
Source: Bulatlat.com
URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2011/10/20/more-killings-feared-in-wake-of-aquino%e2%80%99s-support-for-paramilitary-deployment-in-mining-areas/
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1 comment
hindi ba masama ang pumatay ng walang laban o ng walang naman talagang kasalanan kundi mag.ingay para protektahan ang kapaligiran at kalusugan (laban sa pinsalang dulot ng pagmimina)? bakit ganito militar natin? sarili ninyong lahi naman....
"Last October 11, six leading members of the indigenous people’s organization Linundigan in Agusan del Sur went into hiding after feeling extremely threatened by members of paramilitary forces. The six individuals said they have strong reasons to believe that their lives are in danger and that they are targets of a possible attack by the paramilitary group Salakawan (“enforcer of all laws” in the local dialect). Their group has chapters in the villages of Sinakongan, Agsabo, Kinamaybay, Bakingking, Maasin and San Jose, all within the municipality of Esperanza in Agusan del Sur."
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