PROTESTS were mounted simultaneously on Monday, October 22, in four government agencies in Cagayan de Oro to call for action on issues faced by Indigenous Peoples in the city and the region.
Hundreds of lumads camped outside the offices of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Department of Agrarian Reform, Department of Agriculture, and National Commission for Indigenous People since on Monday to try to talk to its officials.
Kalumbay chairperson Jomorito Goaynon said one of their concerns is the delay of the release of the disturbance compensation to the Laguindingan Farmers Association. Goaynon said Ayala Corporation has failed to fulfill its promise to give the farmers relocation and sustainable jobs in exchange for the establishment of the Laguindigan Airport then.
Another concern is the government's failure to provide irrigation to the lands of the Buffalo-Tamaraw-Litmus Farmers Association.
"Ang bulan sa Oktubre gitakda isip bulan para sa mga mag-uuma. Busa nagtigom ang mga mag-uuma ug lumad sa amihanang bahin sa Mindanao. Apan dili para isilebrar kini, kundili ipakita ang among kasubo ug kasuko ngadto sa panggamhanang wala’y igong pagtagad sa mga kabus," a statement from the Movement Against Tyranny-Northern Mindanao said.
"Ang kawala’y tinuod nga reporma sa yuta usa sa mga dakong issue sa mga mag-uuma tungod kay miresulta kini sa sanga-sangang mga problema. Ilalom sa rehimeng US-Duterte, ang katawhan sa nasud Pilipinas nahiagom sa tumang kalisod hilabi na ang batakang sektor sa katilingban lakip na ang mag-uuma ug lumad," it added.
The group also created an effigy called "Duter-de-Gera" which will be burned in a protest action of farmers and agricultural workers set on Tuesday, October 23.