Sunday, December 23, 2007 1-T Surigao folks return home By Ben Serrano
BUTUAN CITY -- Around 1,548 people from Surigao del Sur, most of whom reportedly members of the Manobo tribe, returned to their respective communities Saturday to spend the holidays following a month of conflict between the military and the communist New People's Army (NPA).
Government officials, army troops, religious leaders and some non-government groups accompanied the evacuees for their return trip home.
Joining the evacuees were lowland dwellers who sought refuge in forested or mountainous areas. Lieutenant Colonel Francisco Mendoza, the commanding officer of the army's 58th Infantry Battalion, confirmed the evacuation.
"At last they can now spend Christmas altogether at home," Mendoza said, adding that they held their promise to accompany the evacuees safely to their homes.
He also said he wanted to ensure that the evacuation won't be exploited by the communist NPA rebels and their legal allies as propaganda against the government.
Militant legal leftist group Karapatan claimed that the evacuees left Barangay Diatagon Gym in Lianga town and two elementary schools in San Agustin town "teary-eyed" or against their will.
The Tribal Coalition of Mindanao (TRICOM) urged the government to wage war against poverty in the countryside by infusing more livelihood opportunities and to dismantle monopolies in Caraga's wood and mining industries.
The evacuation of residents in 10 communities in Lianga, Surigao del Sur began last November 20 after the military launched its offensives against communist rebels in the area.
The military alleged that communist rebels plan to install more bomb factories there, which Karapatan and other allied groups denied.
Colonel Jose Vizcarra, 401st Brigade commander of the Philippine Army, lambasted Karapatan and its allied groups for failing to assail the communist NPA rebels in using landmines, which violated the Geneva protocol on ban on these weapons.
