DAVAO CITY — The Party List Bayan Muna slammed the Regional Peace and Order Council XI (RPOC XI) over its planned closure of the United Church of Christ (UCCP) Haran center, saying closing it will just add problem not a solution to the plight of the evacuess.
In a press statement, Bayan Muna Representative Eufemia Cullamat said many Filipinos need evacuation centers due to the calamities like the Taal Volcano eruptions and harassment perpetrated by the military, but instead of providing a shelter the RPOC XI wanted to close UCCP Haran, which is the sanctuary of the evacuess.
The RPOC XI has earlier passed a resolution upon the sponsorship of Davao del Norte Governor Edwin Jubahib, to close the compound saying IP from his province are being held hostage in the area.
Jubahib also accused the leaders of Haran of keeping the IPs and they are not given freedom to decide for their own, and are being used to stage protest against the government.
She said the peace should have should looked at the problem, assess it and provide solution to resolve it and not addd the problem to complicate things without basis.
Cullamat claimed for the indigenous peoples is the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) is not an effective mechanism to solve the problem, instead it is making another problem because it violates human rights and the policies are geared towards creating chaos among IP communities.
The Bayan Muna accused the government of witch hunting and red-tagging instead of giving them freedom to move in their communities to till their lands.
In a separate statement, the Salugpongan schools said the RPOC resolution “Just proves that martial law is still in effect. We still feel the same militarist dictates that suppress and marginalize the Lumad and those who help them.”
It added “When martial law took effect in 2017, the AFP and its paramilitary groups like the Alamara acted like lords as they forced ordinary Lumad and peasant communities to “surrender” and join government’s side, even as they are just civilians and wanted to lead peaceful lives. Those who won’t “surrender” and won’t join the paramilitary groups were branded as rebel supporters and forced to leave their communities and seek sanctuary elsewhere.”
Closing UCCP Haran, according to them will mean students will not be able to g to school and displacement of teachers.
Instead of closing the UCCP Hara, Bayan Muran said the NTF- ELCAC, complicates the problem rather than providing solutions to the evacuees who fled their communities for shelter.-Jiann A. Padillo/NewsLine
