THE Cebuano indigenous peoples (IP) teacher who was among the five people killed in a reported encounter with the military in Davao de Oro has been laid to rest.
Chad Booc was buried on Wednesday, March 9, 2022 in a cemetery in Cebu City.
Families, friends and colleagues attended the burial which was filled with cries for justice.
In a brief speech, Booc’s sister, Nikki, described the burial as “planting” her brother, a volunteer teacher for the Lumads.
“The day has come when we finally ‘plant’ Chad. Though we mourn, we continue to live out the same passion and the same dedication to marginalized sectors he once lived his life with. Chad, we will find the justice you deserve,” said Nikki.
‘New Bataan 5’
The Save Our Schools Network (SOS), in a statement, has said it will also continue its pursuit of justice for the murder of the five individuals, now collectively known as the New Bataan 5.
The SOS Network said the New Bataan 5—teachers Booc and Jurain Ngujo II, community health worker Elegyn Balonga, and drivers Robert Aragon and Tirso Añar—were community volunteers and civilians who were on their way to Davao City from a community visit as part of the initial assessment of their research work when they were “massacred by elements of the 10th Infantry Division (ID) of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in Barangay Andap, New Bataan, Davao de Oro.”
The incident occurred last Feb. 24, 2022.
The 10th ID belied the allegations, saying there was an encounter with the New People’s Army-Southern Mindanao Regional Committee members that included the five fatalities.
SOS Cebu spokesperson Meg Lim decried once again the killings of the New Bataan 5, saying that “it lines up with the spate of state-sponsored killings perpetuated by the Duterte regime.”
“Their deaths are part of the ongoing crackdown against activists and human rights defenders under the guise of ‘counterinsurgency.’ It is a manifestation of the Duterte regime’s blatant neglect in addressing the demands that these slain activists and community workers call for,” Lim said.
The SOS Network said in IP communities, “basic social services like education are under threat, especially with the forcible state-sponsored closure of Lumad schools in recent years.”
“Ancestral lands are highly militarized and the Lumad are constantly forced to evacuate due to increasing military presence. With these threats to IP communities and ancestral lands, their right to self-determination as an indigenous group is also constantly undermined by the fascist state,” the SOS Network added.
With the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020, red-tagging and terror-tagging has been “institutionalized,” said Lim.
“The rampant terror-tagging has led to the deaths of hundreds of activists, including Chad Booc himself. Chad was even a petitioner against the Anti-Terror Law for the death threats and terror-tagging he experienced,” Lim said.