Tuesday, May 06, 2008 Zozobrado wants lumad protection By Nelson C. Bagaforo
CITY councilor Rachel Zozobrado appealed to concerned government agencies in Davao City to review their policies and programs to ensure that the indigenous people of the city are "protected from unscrupulous people".
"I am sure that the government is doing everything it can to protect all its citizens, including the lumads. But considering what happened to Datu Diarog, the government can do more to beef up such protection," she said.
Zozobrado was referring to Datu Dominador Diarog of sitio Kahusayan in Barangay Manuel Guianga who was killed while he was asleep with his family in their house last April 29.
Contrary to earlier breaking news, it was only Diarog who was killed, while his daughters were wounded.
The Tugbok police had earlier hinted that Diarog was being pressured to sell his land.
Meanwhile, Pastor Apollo C. Quiboloy of the Kingdom of Jesus the Name Above Every Name denied an accusation made by the New People's Army (NPA) that the death of Diarog was committed by the military at his behest.
Tugbok police earlier reported the murder of Diarog may be related to a land issue, specifically over a farmland owned by the tribal leader, which is near the compound of "Jesus Christ the Name Above Every Name", a religious group headed by Quiboloy.
The pastor's lawyer Charlemagne Aldevera said in a letter sent to this newspaper, "He was stunned when he was implicated to the killing."
Aldevera quoted Quiboloy as saying, "I have not committed any illegal act. I have not committed any crime. I am totally innocent of all the charges leveled against me falsely. Let the Lord God Almighty be the judge of all those who falsely accused me."
"We would like to make it on record that Pastor Quiboloy is not in any way involved or behind the killing of Dominador Diarog and his family. He has no knowledge whatsoever about the said killings," Aldevera wrote.
"Such unfounded accusations are clear injustice to him," he added.
The lawyer said the pastor's efforts to protect and preserve the Mt. Apo Natural Park "were misinterpreted. The pastor was also accused of land grabbing.
"He has caused and helped our government, at his own expense, in the stoppage of illegal activities by some unscrupulous people, especially cutting of forest trees and against destructive human exploitation of the protected areas within the Mt. Apo natural park," the pastor's lawyer said.
Zozobrado said, while there is a government agency specifically mandated by law to formulate and implement policies related to the recognition, promotion and protection of the rights of the indigenous people and that there are also laws regulating the purchase of properties classified as ancestral domains, what the indigenous people need most is proper implementation of all these.
In recent years, ancestral lands of indigenous peoples are most sought after either because these are in high altitudes best for tourism or agricultural development or are rich in mineral resources.
In a press release from Zozobrado's office, it said that before his death, Diarog himself reported to the Tugbok Police about the three attempts to burn his house after he declined an offer for the purchase of his two-hectare lot for only P50,000. The three attempts were foiled but the fourth once succeeded and managed to burn down his property.
Despite the "warnings", Diarog did not budge and still refused to sell his land. The police are eyeing this angle as a possible motive for his murder and for the wounding of his wife Emily and two children ages 8 and 4.
Initial investigation of the Tugbok Police District shows the murder of Diarog may be related to a land issue.
Both reactions from Quiboloy and Zozobrado were spurred by an accusation made by the Magtanggol Roque Command-Front 51 Operations Command of the New People's Army (MRC-NPA) in Southern Mindanao against the pastor and the military.
On Monday, Sun.Star Davao reported the NPA statement where the rebels described the killers as those who "work closely with the 73rd Infantry Battalion/Task Force Davao of the AFP at the behest of Apollo Quiboloy".
The statement was signed by Ricardo Fermiza, who identified himself as the spokesperson of the MRC-NPA.
