OVER a hundred lumad evacuees from Compostela Valley have fled to refugee facilities in Davao City, complaining that militiamen backed by the military have encamped in their communities purportedly as part of an operation against communist insurgents.
“We evacuated because the soldiers have occupied our community on November 23, noon time. When they reached our village they asked me if they can stay in Side 4. I asked them how many days will you be staying? They told me two years because they will be providing assistance,” said village leader Oraya Mansayloan.
Despite dialogue with the troops’ commander, Lt. Danjo Lagula, the soldiers refused to move away from the civilian houses.
Meanwhile, rights group Karapatan reiterated calls for the immediate disbandment of paramilitary groups under the influence of the military, for the lumad evacuees in various areas in Mindanao to return in their homes for Christmas.
“We demand the immediate pull-out of troops from lumad communities to stop the exodus of people from the villages and to let the [evacuees] go home for the holidays,” Karapatan secretary-general Cristina Palabay said.
“While the Aquino administration pretended not to hear our demands during the 30-day Manilakbayan, it continues its fascist attacks in our communities. Aquino’s ‘daang matuwid’ has to end. The people, especially the lumad, will lead Aquino on the road to prison,” said Manilakbayan spokesperson Kerlan Fanagel.
In 2015 alone, there are at least 19 incidents of forced evacuation and 7,000 documented victims in Mindanao, Southern Tagalog and Cagayan Valley. The figure does not include the evacuees displaced after the Mamasapano carnage in Maguindanao last January 2015.
The majority of the more than 7,000 evacuees came from the Caraga region; most of them are at the Tandag Sports Complex for three months now. The almost a thousand evacuees in the UCCP-Haran in Davao City are from Talaingod and Kapalong, Davao del Norte, and from Bukidnon who arrived in UCCP-Haran by batches since January 2015.
“Forced evacuation due to intensified military and paramilitary counterinsurgency operations has brought so much damage to the lives of the Filipinos, especially among children,” Palabay said.
“The continuing attack against lumad communities and schools, including the recent evacuation in Compostela, show both the hypocrisy and desperation of the US-Aquino regime, especially with Oplan Bayanihan’s failure,” added Fanagel.
