A National Solidarity Mission (NSM) kicks off today as representatives of various national people’s organizations, progressive partylist organizations and human rights groups fly to Davao City to join other human rights workers, peace advocates in Mindanao. The National Solidarity Mission is set to investigate rights abuses committed against peasants and indigenous peoples specifically in Davao and Cotabato provinces.
A National Solidarity Mission (NSM) kicks off today as representatives of various national people’s organizations, progressive partylist organizations and human rights groups fly to Davao City to join other human rights workers, peace advocates in Mindanao. The National Solidarity Mission is set to investigate rights abuses committed against peasants and indigenous peoples specifically in Davao and Cotabato provinces.
The Manila contingent is composed of representatives from Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan), partylists Gabriela, Act Teacher’s, and Bayan Muna, Karapatan, Kalipunan ng Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas, Children’s Rehabilitation Center, Kalikasan, Koalisyon ng Progresibong Manggagawa at Mamamayan (KPMM), Kilusang Mayo Uno, Task Force for Indigenous People’s Rights, National Council of Churches in the Philippines and Health Alliance for Democracy.
Because an “entire region has been adversely affected by massive military operation, and because of the consistent unresponsiveness and even hostility the local and regional government has shown, we are calling for a national solidarity mission (NSM)," said the joint statement of the Mindanao-based organizations Exodus for Justice and Peace, Defend Talaingod Save Pantaron Range Alliance, Defend Compostela Valley Alliance, Save our Schools, Sowing Seeds of Peace in Mindanao, PASAKA, BAYAN-SMR, and Karapatan-Southern Mindanao Region.
According to these organizations, "Oplan Bayanihan’s direct effect in Mindanao is the deployment of five divisions, about 60%, of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. … The towns and villages where the AFP conducts its operations are the same towns and villages with the most reported cases of human rights violations."
Of the 192 cases of extrajudicial killings under the BS Aquino administration, 25 happened in Southern Mindanao region, where the Davao provinces belong to.
On April 3, some 1,353 Talaingod-Manobo, mostly children under 12 years old, arrived in Davao City after a 6-day trek from their ancestral lands in the Pantaron mountains in Davao del Norte due to abuses, threats and harassments, bombings and indiscriminate firing by the soldiers from the 60th Infantry Battalion (IB), 68th IB of 1003rd Brigade, and 4th Special Forces.
After the dialogue with the Davao del Norte Gov. Rodolfo del Rosario, Talaingod Mayor Basilio Libayao, AFP Gen. Ariel Bernardo, Talaingod-Manobo agreed to go back to their lands once the military pulls out from their communities. The AFP agreed to suspend its operation in Talaingod for the return of the evacuees, but only for two days.
"Oplan Bayanihan’s military operation in the Davao region has resulted in the displacement of peasants and indigenous peoples, and other gross human rights violations committed against them," Mindanao human rights and peace advocates’ organizations said.
Aside from going to Talaingod, Davao del Norte, the NSM also covers the communities in Magpet, Arakan, North Cotabato; Maco, Compostella Valley; and Paquibato, Davao City. ###