A TRIBAL council declared Tagum City Mayor Rey Uy and his son, Davao del Norte Vice Governor Oyo Uy as persona non grata on Wednesday, April 17, after the former discriminated against the indigenous peoples (IP), calling them "tapulan” (lazy).
In a resolution signed by 18 members of the Provincial Tribal Council of Davao del Norte composed of leaders from the municipalities of Kapalong, Talaingod, New Corella, San Isidro, Tagum City, and Sto. Tomas, it said that IPs came to the Provincial Capitol grounds of the province "to express their support" to suspended Governor Edwin Jubahib.
Jubahib was suspended for 60 days by the Office of the President (OP) due to a case filed by Board Member Orly Amit.
The tribal leaders along with their members have been staying at the capitol grounds since the suspension was issued, although Jubahib continued to defy the order.
According to the resolution, Mayor Uy, along with Vice Governor Uy, who is currently serving as acting governor, and other officials and government employees visited the area on April 13, 2024.
The resolution also quoted the mayor who said in a loud voice, which was uploaded on Lumadnong DavNor's page, "Oy kinsa may nagkuan ani, nganong nagpaluto man mo nga di na man si Edwin ang governor?"
The mayor, who was heard on the audio, added, "Ngano man na?... Ah No! No! No! No! Kamo sus! Ayaw! Kay kanang mga lumad diha bisan pag duha ka tuig mga tapulan man na!"
"Gapungko ra na sa ilang lugar. Bisan pag duha ka tuig musugot na diha magpungko-pungko kay libre kaon!"
The tribal council said the mayor's statement did not sit well with them.
"The utterance of Mayor Rey T. Uy is a complete disrespect to the person and the dignity of all ICC/IPs [Indigenous cultural communities/Indigenous peoples], a blasphemy to the core of our being and a total disregard to our basic rights as a human being," the Tribal Council said.
They said the mayor's words are in violation of the 1987 Constitution and Republic Act No. 8371, or the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA), particularly Section 31 in relation to Rule V, Section 3.
The copies of the resolution will be forwarded to the OP, particularly to President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).
Coincidently, the two Uys have reportedly been expelled from the regional political party Hugpong ng Pagbabago due to "conflict with the core principles and policies." No exact reasons, however, were mentioned and the HNP has not formally confirmed the issuance of the statement.
SunStar Davao tried to reach out to the mayor and governor's camp on the matter but they have not responded nor issued any statement on their respective social media accounts. RGL
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