PAGADIAN
CITY: The military said it has recognized government welfare programs for the
most vulnerable sectors of society, especially the farmers and indigenous
people, the PIA recently reported.
Earlier,
farmers and IPs from Mindanao have demanded a halt on the ceaseless military
operations that have been yielding grave human rights violations to them and
other lumad communities.
Tabak
Public Affairs Office chief Capt. Frank Suelto, representing BGen. Gerardo
Barrientos Jr., said the IPs within Tabak’s area is their consideration.
The
Tabak’s press conference held at the conference room of the Zamboanga del Sur
Police Provincial Office (ZSPO) also disclosed that an IP desk is now present at
the Civil Military Operation (CMO) to assist the IPs.
A
2014 report sourced from Camp Aguinaldo said that about 1,112 lumad families,
involving 4,735 individuals, mostly women and children, left their communities
to seek temporary safety from the AFP’s alleged aerial bombings, artillery
bombardments and strafing of their homes and farms.
Suelto
said they have put into service a cultural sensitivity program where they orient
soldiers assigned in the Subanen community to respect IPs right to
self-determination and cultural integrity.
They
advise soldiers assigned in remote areas also to provide IPs with basic
services through medical civic action program (MEDCAP), which the soldiers did.
Suelto
added that what the AFP is doing is in full support to RA 8371, known as the
Indigenous People’s Rights Act (IPRA) of 1997.
The
recent Tabak press conference was one of the activities during the Mindanao
Week of Peace celebration organized by the Interfaith Forum for Peace and
Solidarity. (WITH REPORTS BY GIDEON CORGUE)