THE silence from the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) on the intensifying violence against Non-Moro Indigenous Peoples (NMIPs), is as deafening as the bazooka and mortar shelling heard by the communities in Brgy. Ahan, Guindulungan, Maguindanao last week.

Since June 19, there have been series of bombings in Mt. Firis and its surrounding areas, as part of intensified military operations against the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF). As a result, 250 families have evacuated from Barangay Ahan, Guindulungan, Maguindanao, and some yet undetermined number of evacuees from Datu Hoffer Ampatuan municipality. The evacuees are from Teduray, Lambangian and Dulangan Manobo Non-Moro indigenous communities.

In the morning of June 22, an improvised explosive device (IED) exploded right beside the house of Lengleng Daya Kininde, a Teduray woman, living with her two (2) children in Sitio Fanibingen, Brgy. Limpungo, Datu Hoffer Maguindanao. Lengleng, who was pregnant, instantly died, while her children were wounded and brought to the hospital.

In another incident, Jay-ar Diaz, Bonbon Diaz and the minor, Jimmy Maningula, died on the spot from multiple gunshot wounds last June 18. Six more were wounded in Barangay Edcor, Buldon, Maguindanao after two men, armed with pistols and assault rifles, arrived and opened fire. All of the victims are from Upi, Maguindanao.

To date, no immediate relief or emergency response was given by the local government to the displaced families, and to the families left behind by Lengleng, Jay-ar, Bonbon and Jimmy. Mostly farmers, the indigenous peoples were supposed to harvest their upland rice, but had to flee and leave their farms. Now, they are in need of food, water, and secure areas to stay while the fighting is ongoing.

These intensified military operations come after President Duterte warns that he will go on an “all out offensive” against the BIFF should the violence against civilians continue or should his soldiers get killed. Duterte said this in May, when he went to Maguindanao after the BIFF seized Datu Paglas market, and launched a series of attacks which caused deaths among the government soldiers.

Timuay Justice and Governance (TJG), the Indigenous Political Structure of the Teduray and Lambangian Indigenous people has long been seeking the help and intervention of the BTA and the National Government on these armed conflicts and their impacts to the NMIPs. Since last year alone, thousands of families have already been violently displaced within their ancestral domain because of land grabbing by armed Moro groups. As of July 2020, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has recorded displacements of 667 families and approximately 3,358 individuals. Since 2018, there have been more than 20 indigenous people killed. However, no action nor acknowledgement of these acts of violence have been done or issued by the BTA and the National Government.

Now, as the military drops more bombs within the ancestral domains of the Teduray and Lambangian people to flush out Moro rebels, the NMIPs are subjected to more sufferings — deaths, destruction of their homes and farms, and forced evacuation. All these in the time of pandemic.

The BTA has to be made accountable and the National Government has to be made responsible for the gruesome deaths of Lengleng, Jay-ar, Bonbon, Jimmy; the three (3) young Teduray men (Michael, Malvin, and Jomarie), who were killed and burned last April, among others; and of other NMIP women and men and the thousands of families displaced.

The NMIPs have historically and consistently engaged the National Government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to assert their rights over their ancestral domain. They supported the peace process, as they pushed for the full inclusion of their rights in the peace talks, and the crafting of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL). There have been commitments, on both sides, that their rights will be respected and recognized.

While the BTA says that there is peaceful transition in the region and that the process remains on track, the lands of the Teduray, Lambangian and Dulangan Manobo people are being stolen. Their lives are being taken.

Therefore, we, in LOYUKAN, demand that the concrete steps be taken both by the BTA and the National Government to address the dire situation of the NMIPs:
· To provide sufficient relief packs to the displaced families;
· To provide indemnity funds for the families of those killed;
· To ensure that mechanisms already in place as part of the transition will include the meaningful representation of TJG so that their voices are heard, and actions that will be taken actually respond to the needs of the NMIPs;
· That the Teduray and Lambangian Ancestral Domain Claim, while still being processed, be declared a peace zone; and
· To hold formal elections of the Bangsamoro Parliament in 2022 to secure its democratic mandate by giving people the power to choose its own leaders.
Stop the killings. Stop land grabbing.

Recognize and respect the ancestral domain of the Teduray and Lambangian within the BARMM.

Fulfill the commitment of the full inclusion of the rights of the Non-Moro IPs within BARMM.

LOYUKAN . 6.24.2021
LOYUKAN is a Teduray term for “comrade” and is a formation of different Indigenous Political Structures, indigenous peoples organizations, IP rights advocates both organizations and individuals.

Contact information:
Timuay Justice and Governance
Timuay Labi Leticio Datuwata – 09287321624 / datuwataleticio@gmail.com
LILAK (Purple Action for Indigenous Women’s Rights)
judy a. pasimio – 09175268341 / judy104@lilak.net
Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center
Joolia Demigillo – 09175641609 / jdemigillo@gmail.com

#StopTheKillingsPH

#IPLivesMatter