LIKE the crack of a thunderbolt, a deafening sound rudely woke a community of indigenous people when a pickup plowed into their makeshift shanties at Butong, Quezon, Bukidnon at 3 o’clock this morning.
In the incident report by the Quezon Police Station, a Mitsubishi Strada driven by Richie N. Puerto, a resident of P-9, Quemtras, Butong, Quezon, Bukidnon first slammed into a parked Rusi Chariot tricycle registered to Rolando O. Lingaolingao, Sr, one of the shanties’ residents.
The driver lost control and the pickup further careened into a shanty owned by Suzima Arillano. She was asleep when she was hit and dragged by the pickup to where it fell into a roadside drainage.
Both Puerto and Arillano were rushed to the hospital, but Arillano was declared dead on arrival. Puerto sustained bodily injuries.
The deceased was a member of the Manobo- Pulangiyon tribe. The tribe is forced to live in such dangerous situation as they have been struggling to take back their ancestral land occupied by Kiantig Development Corporation (KDC).
The Forest and Land Grazing Agreement of KDC expired on 2018. A Cease and Desist Order was served against KDC on April 30, 2022, but the company has not complied until present.
This incident happened barely two weeks after the tribe received a copy of their Certification of Ancestral Domain Title from the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples on August 28 that would have paved the way for them to enter and occupy their land.
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