NPA rebels kidnap 3 lumads in Bukidnon

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines  – The military reported yesterday that members of the Communist New People’s Army (NPA) stormed an indigenous people’s village in Sitio Upper Bayugan, Barangay Kitubo, Kitaotao, Bukidnon and kidnapped three lumad people on Wednesday.

Capt. Joe Patrick Martinez, military spokesman, identified those forcibly taken as Jovanie Rebacca, 17; Nonoy Paradero, 61 and Dilly Paradero, 48, all residents of Barangay White Kulaman, also in Kitaotao town.

He added that the NPA released Rebacca and the elder Paradero a few hours after the incident, but kept Dilly captive.

The military report did not state though why Dilly was kept or why the two others were released.

Col. Jesse Alvarez, Commander of 403rd Infantry Brigade, ordered the 8th Infantry Battalion to conduct a rescue operation and support the police in their law enforcement efforts.

In Manila, members of the militant groups League of Filipino Students (LFS), Karapatan and Anakbayan vandalized the bronze logo of the Department of Justice (DOJ) along Padre Faura Street, to read as the “Department of Injustice” instead.

The groups, along with some lumad members, picketed the DOJ headquarters to protest the filing of “trumped-up charges” against several tribe leaders.

The lumad officers, who spoke during the rally, also wanted to call the national government’s attention to what they described as persecution following the killings of their tribal leaders and members.

“If we’re not killed by the fascist military or paramilitary groups, the Aquino government filed numerous fabricated cases against us to silence our resistance to militarization and plunder,” said Datu Jomorito Goaynon, lumad spokesman.

The group is part of the Manilakbayan ng Mindanao 2015, which documented over 250 cases filed against the lumad, peasants, human rights activists or sectoral leaders.

It also lamented that the DOJ has not filed charges against those involved in the Paquibato massacre and the more recent killings in Davao City and Bukidnon province.

The lumad members clarified though that they have nothing to do with the vandalism and that it was in contrast with what they are fighting for.  – With Gerry Lee Gorit, Edith Regalado, Rey Galupo