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Tribes seek total military pullout from Davao del Norte village

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From the Business World (Apr 9): Tribes seek total military pullout from Davao del Norte village

Members of local tribes, or lumads, from Talaingod, Davao del Norte have sought the intercession of the Davao City Council on their request for a total military pullout from their villages.

At least 309 families -- 1,357 individuals -- from eight sitios in Barangay Palma Gil, Talaingod walked for days and hitched a ride heading to Davao City, to seek a sanctuary and neutral ground.

The 68th Infantry Battalion (IB), 60th IB, and the Army’s Special Forces have been conducting operations against rebel groups in Talaingod, about two hours away from here.
 
“We evacuated after being harassed by the military with their troops and three big airplanes and two helicopters with machine guns,” Datu Dolo Mandausay, spokesman of the evacuees, told members of the Davao City Council on Tuesday (April 8) in the vernacular.

He said many of his fellow evacuees, who are now staying at the city’s compound of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines need food and medicine since many of them are sick.

“The immediate needs of the lumads are food, medicine, clothes and other basic needs,” Aya Lagraje, a teacher from the University of the Philippines in Mindanao who is representing the Save Talaingod Support Group, said. However, she said, the long-term need has to be addressed too particularly the demand for the pullout of government troops in their villages.

Davao City Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte said the city can provide food for the evacuees for humanitarian reasons but only as far as the city’s resources would allow. He said financial aid for fares or other needs is out of the question since the Commission on Audit has warned him to prioritize spending for the city’s needs only.

Mayor Basilio Libayao of Talaingod apologized to Mr. Duterte for the inconvenience caused by his constituents who evacuated to the city. At the same time, he thanked the mayor for the assistance provided to the lumads.

Colonel Harold N. Cabreros, commander of the Army’s 1003rd Brigade, said the military did not conduct aerial bombings in Barangay Palma Gil and neither did they occupy the houses and school buildings in the Talaingod villages. He said it was the residents themselves who sought their assistance after the rebels threatened the local communities.
 
“The root cause of this situation is the presence of the communist rebels in the communities,” he said. The troops were only in the area to conduct the peace and development outreach program when they encountered members of the New People’s Army (NPA) Front Committee 55, he added.

Mr. Libayao said the people who brought the lumads to Davao were only using them, saying that he would be the first to know if there was harassment and aerial bombings in the area. He ordered the police to investigate the organizers who led the lumads to Davao City.
 
Mr. Cabreros said the troops found several NPA encampments in the communities in Barangay Palma Gil as well as several improvised land mines from the NPA camp.
 
The lumads were urged to return to Talaingod as the government is ready to provide relief assistance as well as an evacuation center for them.
 

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