STATEMENT OF CONCERN
On the recent violence and displacements in Maguindanao del Norte and del Sur
The Alliance of Tri-People for the Advancement of Human Rights (ALTAHR), Maguindanao and Cotabato City cluster of Mindanao Peoples’ Peace Movement (MPPM-MagCot), Alyansa ng mga Mamamayan para sa Karapatang Pantao (AMKP) and Multi-Stakeholders Initiatives for Humanitarian Actions against Disasters – South Central Mindanao Cluster (MIHANDS-SCM) express grave concern on the reported and recorded violence and displacements in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao del Norte and in Datu Hoffer, Ampatuan and Guindulungan towns of Maguindanao del Sur in the past weeks this March 2024.
Which is more regrettable that these incidents have happened in the observance of the month of Ramadan for the Islam faith and Lent of the Christian’s.
On March 17, 2024 four soldiers were ambushed and killed by assailants along the road while on their way back to the 40th IB patrol base in Sitio Bagurot, Barangay Mother Tuayan, that eventually was claimed by the BIFF-Karialan group as a retaliation on the intensified military operations against the group and communities in the past months said by the group’s spokesperson.
Week after, last March 25, 2024 in Datu Odin Sinsuat (Barangay Kakar) an armed clash between warring clans interrupted the activities of the whole community. This incident is an escalation of the previous armed encounters on 02 March 2024 at around 10:00 PM in Brgy. Sibuto, Datu Odin Sinsuat; on 06 March 2024, another reported armed encounter between the same groups and escalated affecting the nearby barangays of Dados, Ambolodto, Kakar, Kenebeka and Sapalan also in Datu Odin Sinsuat in Maguindanao del Norte. Report from DSWD Field Office (FO) XII said that a total of 2,481 families or 12,405 persons are affected in six (6) barangays in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao del Norte - 381 families or 1,905 persons took temporary shelter in four (4) evacuation centers and 2,100 families or 10,500 persons temporarily staying with their relatives or friends.
While in the towns of Datu Hoffer, Guindulungan and Ampatuan in the province of Maguindanao del Sur, Teduray and Lambangian has to flee for their lives.
In a report, at least 24 Teduray households fled their homes in Barangay Sayap in Datu Hoffer town as clashes occurred between the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters and government forces following the ambush that killed four soldiers in the adjacent Barangay Tuayan 1 on March 17. This is confirmed by the member of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority – BARMM representing the Non-Moro Indigenous People Froilyn Mendoza.
Timuay Justice and Governance also reported that Teduray and Lambangian Non-Moro Indigenous Peoples families from villages of Saniag in Ampatuan town and Ahan in Guindulungan all in Maguindanao del Sur province are displaced as the military operations continued in the pursuit of the responsible groups of the ambush in Barangay Tuayan 1, Datu Hoffer.
According to the initial data gathered by TJG, 81 Teduray families from Sitio Liyunen and another 37 families from Sitio Ugafuk, both of Barangay Saniag in Ampatuan, fled their homes and evacuated to a safer place in the same barangay. Exact figures are continued to be verified by the Indigenous Political Structure of the Teduray and Lambangian Non-Moro tribes in the BARMM.
ALTAHR, MPPM-MagCot, AMKP and MIHAND-SCM call on the concerned agencies for immediate response to the affected communities and the democratic resolutions of the armed clashes in the region.
Further, we call on the BARMM-BTA to democratically pass the democratically processed Non-Moro Indigenous Peoples Code and Internally Displaced Persons Law in the region for the protection and rights of the Non-Moro Indigenous Peoples and of the IDPs.
Of the same note related to the Non-Moro Indigenous Peoples Teduray and Lambangian tribes, we call on the National Commission on the Indigenous Peoples, Ministry on Indigenous Peoples affairs in BARMM, all other mechanisms established and the whole of the Bangsamoro government to fast-track the issuance of the Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title for the Unified AD Claim of the Teduray and Lambangian (TLADC).
The same call for the warring clans to resolve the feuds peacefully and embrace dialogue rather than violence.
Meanwhile we call for an independent investigation and justice for Abdulrahman Esmail, 15-years old Arabic student and resident of Tuayan Mother, Datu Hoffer, Maguindanao del Sur that has been brutally killed on March 18, 2024 and only found in a grassland near the area where the four soldiers on March 17 was ambushed.
We call for humanitarian organizations to help strengthen and empower community structures that would also help empower the victims of war and conflict and of marginalizations and oppressions.
We also call for all civil society organizations to join the call for speedy and fair investigation of all violent incidents and demand justice for all victims.
Our continued prayers and Solidarity to all Sisters and Brothers in different religious denominations observing the Holy Week and Ramadan.
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Reference Persons:
Fatima Lintang - Ali
MPPM-MagCot
Bong Fenis
AMKP
Milyn Cruz
ALTAHR
Edna Pangilamen
MIHANDS-SCM
March 27, 2024
Cotabato City
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