ANOTHER batch of Ata Manobo tribe members have returned to their ancestral land in Talaingod, Davao del Norte after three years of living at the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP)-Haran in Davao City.
In a press release from the 10th Infantry Division (10th ID) of the Philippine Army, a total of 99 indigenous peoples (IPs), including 30 minors, left Haran around 9 a.m. on Sunday, August 8, 2021.
This came days after the first batch, consisting of 69 Ata Manobo, returned home from Haran on July 20.
According to the 10th ID, Datu Tungig Mansumuy-at, spokesperson of Salugpongan Ta Tanu Igkanugon, led the ritual called "panubadtubad" inside the Haran compound before they travelled to return to their communities.
The panubadtubad ritual means asking permission from the owners of the Talabugta, the god or owner of the land. It is common to all Lumad in Mindanao.
The returning IPs were received by the Talaingod government and were given appropriate medical attention. Food packs were also distributed and rations awaited as they went back to their houses at Sitio Dulian, Barangay Palma Gil in Talaingod.
"The Local Government of Davao City and Talaingod, together with other government agencies including the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) and PNP (Philippine National Police), for so long, took numerous efforts in rescuing the IPs brought by organizers of CPP-NPA-NDF (Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army-National Democratic Front) and allied groups to Haran," the 10th ID said.
Meanwhile, Pasaka, a confederation of Lumad Organizations in Southern Mindanao Region, said in a statement forwarded to the media that the "Haran Manobos" returned to Talaingod to "defend Pantaron Range."
"The Talaingod Manobo have decided to return to Talaingod this Sunday (August 8). After years of campaigning to stop militarization and to reopen their schools, which drew nationwide and international support, the Manobo will take this struggle (face-to-face) with the soldiers and paramilitary that caused their adversity," Pasaka said.
The group said Pantaron Range "for the Talaingod Manobo, known to be the last remaining biodiversity corridors in Mindanao that [are] headwaters of major Mindanao rivers, the Pulangi, Lasang and Davao."
"Why are we deciding to go back when the military is still there? Because we want to face the military, to assert that they give back our security and our right to live as Lumad in the countryside," Mansumuy-at quoted in the statement.
He also thanked the UCCP-Haran administration "for protecting and provided them with their needs as they fought for their rights."
UCCP Southeast Mindanao Jurisdiction Area Bishop Hamuel Tequis said they are hoping that the returning IPs could start again in their homeland.
"I hope and I pray for their safe, peaceful journey, that they find their hopes fulfilled as they go back and claim the land as their stewardship. I also pray that they find that sense of happiness to see their homes and land once again, that they can begin to till the land so that they can live from the harvest of their land," Tequis said.
On April 28, the Davao Regional Trial Court (RTC) issued a warrant of arrest against six UCCP-Haran Davao administrators for child abuse.
In a warrant issued by the Davao RTC Branch 12 on April 21, 2021, which was forwarded to the media on April 28, the respondents are UCCP Southeast Mindanao Jurisdiction Area Bishop Hamuel Tequis, Rev. Daniel Palicte, Ephraim Malazarte, Lindy Trenilla, Grace Avila, and Pasaka Confederation of Lumad Organization Secretary General Jong Monzon.
The six respondents have been charged with two counts of violation of Republic Act 7610 or the Special Protection of Children Against Child Abuse, Exploitation, and Discrimination Act or the Anti-Child Abuse Law.
The issuance of the warrant came nearly a month since the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) issued a freeze order on the bank deposits and assets of UCCP after it was allegedly used to finance or support terrorism.
In a Philippine News Agency report, AMLC issued Resolution TF-36 dated March 12, 2021. The AMLC order covers the three bank accounts of the UCCP Haran Center with the Philippine National Bank amounting to more or less P600,000 and real property under the name of Brokenshire Integrated Health Ministries Inc.
The freeze order stemmed from the AMLC’s investigation that the assets are used to finance terrorism in violation of Republic Act 10168, otherwise known as The Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act.
PRO-Davao Region Director Brigadier General Filmore Escobal said he hopes that their return to their homeland will "finally end the deception and exploitation of the people and organizations which have been using the IPs to get funding from local/foreign donors, wherein the funds being collected are utilized to support communist activities."
“Ginawang propaganda ng Pasaka-SMR [Pasaka Confederation of Lumad Organizations in Southern Mindanao] ang boluntaryong pagbalik ng IPs galing sa Haran na diumano ang dahilan ng kanilang pagbabalik ay upang ituloy ang kanilang pakikibaka sa kanilang kapakanan, ngunit ang katotohanan ay ang hirap na nararanasan sa loob ng Haran ang tunay na dahilan at ang mga nakakaabot na kwento sa kanila tungkol sa programa at serbisyo ng gobyerno kung saan ngayon ay tinatamasa ng mga kasama nila," Escobal said.
(Pasaka-SMR is spreading propaganda that the voluntary departure of IPs from Haran was to continue their struggle for their welfare. The truth is, the hardship experienced by IPs inside Haran is the real reason and the stories that reached them that the government programs and services have already benefited their fellows.)
Pasaka had previously denied the allegations, saying that it is "continuing harassment from the state forces."