PHILIPPINES: Lumad leaders killed by paramilitary forces

Dear Friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is deeply concerned about the killing of three indigenous leaders in the community of Km.16, Barangay Diatagon Lianga, Surigao Del Sur. Paramilitary forces were threatening the civilian community, accusing the victims of being rebel New People’s Army members.

CASE DETAILS: (Based on the documentation by Alliance for the Advancement of Peoples Rights (KARAPATAN))

On 1 September 2015, at 4 a.m., members of the paramilitary group Magahat/Bagani Force/Marcos Bocales group opened fire at Dionel Campos and his cousin Bello Sinzo and a staff member of ALCADEV (Alternative Learning Center for Agricultural and Livelihood Development) Belen Itallo in the presence of community members in Km.16, Bgy. Diatagon, Lianga, Surigao del Sur. Campos and Sinzo died instantly, while Itallo survived. The back of Campos’s head was blown off; some witnesses believe the men used an M203 rifle to shoot him.

On the same morning, Emerito Samarca’s dead body was found in one of the classrooms in the ALCADEV school compound in Sitio Han-ayan, Brgy. Diatagon, Lianga, Surigao del Sur. Samarca was the Executive Director of ALCADEV. His throat was slit open, with a cut spanning from ear to ear, and his face full of bruises and nearly unrecognizable.

Samarca was last seen by community members tied around the neck, hands and feet, after the paramilitary personnel detained him in one of the classrooms. One community member who initially accompanied Samarca was forced to flee after being beaten.

By the evening of 31 August 2015, ALCADEV faculty members and most of the residents were already in Km. 16. At around 4 a.m. on September 1, soldiers went from house to house and ordered residents to leave their houses and proceed to the community centre.

Campos, Sinzo and Itallo, at the house of Josephine Pagalan, were ordered to sit at the foot of the stairs. Pagalan is spokesperson of the Kahugpungan sa mga Lumadnong Organisasyon sa Caraga (Kasalo Caraga or Organization of Indigenous Peoples Organizations in Caraga).

Some members of the paramilitary group accused Itallo of being seen in the company of the New People’s Army (NPA, the armed wing of the Communist Party) in the mountains. Itallo, crippled by polio since childhood, showed them her feet and reasoned that it is not true as she has difficulty in walking. The armed men ordered Itallo to sit beside Campos. The community members were then ordered to “drop on the floor” by the paramilitary men. Immediately after, Bobby Tejero and Brother Loloy Tejero, known members of the paramilitary group, shot Campos in the head. Sinzo was also shot dead. Some 20 armed men fired indiscriminately around Campos, Sinzo and Itallo.

After this horrific incident, 307 families of about 2,000 individuals evacuated to Tandag City in fear. They brought with them the remains of Sinzo, Samarca and Campos.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

On 30 August 2015, about 40 soldiers of the 36th Infantry Battalion-Philippine Army (IBPA), the 75th IBPA, Special Forces, and known members of the paramilitary group—who call themselves Magahat-Bagani Force/Marcos Bocales group—occupied the function hall and parts of the ALCADEV school grounds in Sitio Han-ayan, Brgy. Diatagon, Lianga, Surigao del Sur.

The previous day had been the commemoration of the school’s Foundation Day, and some visitors still remained in the school. These visitors saw for themselves the soldiers and members of the paramilitary group in the school grounds.

During the military and paramilitary encampment, elements of the 36th IBPA, 75th IBPA, SF, and members of the Bocales group threatened the school’s faculty members, staff, and the community members that they will be massacred, unless they leave in two days. Soldiers also asked community members of the whereabouts of Reynaldo Campos, ALCADEV coordinator; Norma Ampis, TRIFPSS executive director; Dionel Campos, MAPASU Chairperson; and, two other TRIFPSS teachers. The armed men also confiscated all cellphones and cameras.

The following day, on August 31, the community cooperative store of the Malahutayong Pakigbisog Alang sa Sumusunod (MAPASU) was burned down by the paramilitary group. The soldiers also fired indiscriminately around the community. The residents thus decided to go to the nearby community in Km. 16 for safety. In the late afternoon of the same day, half of the soldiers were seen leaving Han-ayan, going towards Km. 16.

As residents and teachers were leaving Han-ayan, 25 soldiers in full battle gear of the 75th IBPA and three to five members of the paramilitary group, remained in the community.

Since 2005, members of Mapasu and ALCADEV, who are active in the defense of Lumad ancestral lands against incursion by big business, have been victims of red tagging, trumped-up criminal charges, illegal arrests and detention, torture, and forced evacuation.

ALCADEV was established on 19 July 2004 as an alternative learning system designed to provide secondary education to indigenous youth -the Manobo, Higaonon, Banwaon, Talaandig and Mamanwa– who live in the mountains of Surigao del Norte and Sur, Agusan del Norte and Sur. ALCADEV was born out of the joint efforts of indigenous peoples organizations in the CARAGA region. MAPASU is a regional organization of indigenous people in Caraga and is well known for its strong stance against the intrusion of mining companies in their communities. 

The paramilitary group of Marcos Bocales, called Task Force Gantangan during the Arroyo regime’s Oplan Bantay Laya, may have changed its name into Magahat-Bagani Force. Despite the change in name however, the group continues to be armed and used by the military to sow division and terror among the Manobo-Lumad, using the policy of divide-and-rule. In 2014 alone, the group, under the auspices of the 36th IBPA, was responsible for the killing of Henry Alameda and Aldren Dumaguit; the burning of the vehicle of Kahugpungan sa mga Mag-uuma sa Surigao del Sur (KAMASS) – KMP; and, the burning of the cooperative store and school in Kabulohan, Brgy. Buhisan, San Agustin, Surigao del Sur.

SUGGESTED ACTION: 

Kindly send letters to the concerned authorities listed below requesting for their immediate intervention in this case.

The AHRC is also writing a separate letter to the Special Rapporteurs on extra-judicial, summary or arbitrary executions, and human right defenders, calling for their intervention in these cases.

To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER