Source: Bangsamoro for All
Uphold and Defend the Right to peace of NMIPs in BARMM!
We would like to express our deepest concern on the plight of the Non-Moro Indigenous Peoples in Maguindanao provinces. We call on concerned agencies to accordingly and urgently respond to the situation.
The narrative of recurring displacements in the lives of the Indigenous Peoples in Maguindanao and nearby provinces have been going on since the 70’s.
And lately with the BARMM in transition, at least 24 Teduray families initially evacuated out of fear of getting caught in the crossfire between the warring allegedly involving Dawlah Islamiyah and MILF-BIAF’s 118 Base Command particularly in in Barangay Tuawayan, Datu Hoffer, Maguindanao del Sur last September 11, 2023.
Two deaths was reported from the clashing groups and a one-month old baby from the displaced Teduray families died in the evacuation center. The displacement worsen the health condition of the baby who has suffered severe asthma.
Midnight of July 24, 2023 when undetermined number of armed groups or lawless elements stormed the Sakaum (at the tri-boundaries of South Upi, Talayan and Datu Odin Sinsuat municipalities) neighborhood occupied by thirty-one (31) Tëduray and Lambangian families. Three (3) houses were immediately burnt down on the spot and fired several hundreds of bullets from automatic rifles with one (1) wounded by the armed men.
On July 30, 2023 Tedurays worship hopuse in Sitio Nungeng, Barangay Blanting, Talayan, Maguindanao del Sur was burned down displaced 96 families (Moro and NonMoro IPs). The next days, another 124 families from the NMIP Teduray tribe in Sitio Base, Barangay Tamran, Talayan, Maguindanao del Sur fled in a hurry as armed men fired their guns indiscriminately and set fire to a tribal ritual hall (Tenines).
August 9, another reported displacement occurred in Brgy Biarong, South, Upi, Maguindanao del Sur after being caught in the crossfire of the warring Moro clan aspiring for the electoral post in the coming October 30, 2023 Barangay elections. The following weekends hundreds of Moro and ethnic Teduray villagers in Barangays Lamod and Biarong in South Upi, fled again to villages near the municipal as clashes of the feuding clans resumed.
In a statement from the Timuay Justice and Governance, the Indigenous Political Structure of the Teduray and Lambangian tribes in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao said that “In July of 2020, the number of IDPs increased to 3,300 in 11 conflict sites within the Teduray and Lambangian ancestral domain areas in portions of Maguindanao and Sultan Kudarat provinces. These cases of evacuees happened amidst the Covid-19 pandemic where basic hygiene protocols are mostly violated such as the use of face masks, social distancing, disinfections including lockdowns.”
The situation of the NMIP Teduray and Lambangian opted the leaders to declare that they are under attack or the ancestral domain is under siege, “…the Baglalan (tribal title holders) in a meeting on June 23, 2020 saw the situation as that “the fusaka inged (ancestral domains) is currently in a state of guboten (under siege)” because of the cases of forced land occupation by non-IPs; attack and killings perpetrated by armed groups and hostage taking at sitio Dara, Kuya, South Upi; destruction of properties, robberies, harassments and movements of armed groups in different parts of the Ancestral Domain.”
The forced displacement or “relocation” of the Teduray communities in the coastal areas of Datu Odin Sinsuat (DOS), Maguindanao del Norte was exposed after the death of 27 buried in a landslide last October 28, 2022 in the relocation site at Sitio Tinabon, Kusiong of DOS, Maguindanao del Norte. They were forcibly relocated to their soon-to-be graveyard because the coastal areas they lived in are developed to resorts. The condition of the NMIPs and Bangsamoro communities affected by typhoon Paeng's wrath remains uncertain and difficult.
The displacements and conflict situation affects also the Maguindanaon Bangsamoro and the Christian communities.
Another worrisome concern is the extractive mineral investment project that will certainly cause displacements and destruction. According to ground reports, personnel of the very office that is expected to serve the Indigenous People in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) - the Ministry for Indigenous Peoples Affairs (MIPA) are doing recruitments of the communities to allow mining inside the ancestral domain.
Apart from humanitarian responses to aid the needs of the displaced and survivors, it is much more important to hear the plea of the Non Moro Indigenous Peoples for their constitutional and inherent right to Ancestral Domain and self-determination.
The Bangsamoro Commission of Human Rights along with the National Commission on Human Rights, National Commission on Indigenous Peoples and the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples Affairs and the Committees for Indigenous Peoples and Cultural Communities in the Senate and House of Representatives including the Implementing Mechanisms of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Moro National Liberation Fronts Peace Processes must act immediately and accordingly on the matter. If indeed we are shaping an inclusive and a regional governance for all, peace agreements and laws must not rot in papers.
We call on peace and human rights advocates among the civil society organizations to help surface the incidents from the ground and stand in solidarity with the displaced and dispossessed Moro and Non-Moro communities.
Alyansa ng Mamamayan para sa Karapatang Pantao (AMKP)
Oct 20, 2023
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