Lumads, who came to Manila this week to again reach out to people in the national urban center with stories of their plight in Martial Law, were welcomed with the Supreme Court (SC) decision favoring the one-year extension of military rule in Mindanao on February 6.
They trooped to the SC today to express their indignation over the high court’s decision.
The Pasaka Confederation of Lumad Organizations in Southern Mindanao said that “the highest court in the land turned a deaf ear to their clamor to stop the Martial Law extension in Mindanao.”
“We are here in Manila to expose our living conditions made difficult by the military and now the SC decision forms part of the basis armed elements sow terror in communities of peasants and national minorities in Mindanao,” the group said.
Protesters burned the images of the “10 SC injustices” who voted in favor of the one-year extension of Martial Law.
“We burned their images as part of our condemnation of their decision that upheld Martial rule,” said Jong Monzon, Secretary General of Pasaka.
Escalating human rights violations
Based on the group’s records, they documented 18 incidents of aerial strikes by the military that hit Lumad communities, while 66 Lumad leaders were victims of extrajudicial killings.
Also, 7,000 Lumad families have been displaced due to military operations and 44 Lumad schools ran by the NGOs and church groups were forcibly closed due to intimidation by soldiers and paramilitary groups.
“Since the Martial Law declaration last May 2017, the escalating human rights violations in Mindanao have worsened in the Lumad areas. The military are also now forcing Lumads and farmers to surrender as New People’s Army (NPA) members,” Monzon said.
Monzon added, “The AFP reported that there were around 2,000 NPA surrenderees, but they were actually Lumads and farmers coerced to pose with rifles or sign papers, so that the military can report their so-called accomplishments.”
He also pointed out that some surrenderees were actually paramilitary leaders claiming to be NPA members and have also almost annually posed as surrenderees, such as Butsoy Salusad in Bukidnon. Salusad is actually a leader of NIPAR and the primary perpetrator in the murder of Matigsalug anti-mining leader Datu Jimmy Liguyon in 2012.
“The SC decision is like rubbing salt on our wounds. The Lumads will continue to fight the attacks on our communities,” Monzon ended.
