A HAIL of bullets met a land-grabbing protest march of Manobo indigenous people led by presidential aspirant Leody de Guzman and senatorial candidates David D’Angelo and Roy Cabonegro at noon yesterday in Barangay Butong, Quezon, Bukidnon.
Five farmers identified as Nanie Abela, Bae Charita Anglao Del Socorro, Datu Didilusan Arroyo, Orlando Lingaolingao, and Eger Dabatian sustained gunshot wounds and were taken to a hospital.
De Guzman, Cabonegro, and D’Angelo were unhurt. They were in the lead group of the marchers who were protesting the occupancy by a private agricultural company of part of their 900-hectare ancestral lands.
D’Angelo, who was documenting the event via Facebook Live, caught the attack on a 33-minute long video that has been viewed 86,000 times and shared 2,600 times five hours after posting it on his personal FB page.
Malacanang condemned the attack and urged local authorities to leave no stone unturned in their investigation and bring the perpetrators to justice.
Communications Secretary and acting presidential Martin Andanar said violence has no place in any civilized society.
“We condemn the incident in Bukidnon where gunshots were allegedly fired against the camp of Ka Leody de Guzman. We urge the local authorities to conduct a thorough investigation and prosecute those behind this dastardly act,” he said.
Comelec chair Saidamen Pangarungan also condemned the attack, saying “these incidents… have no place in the process of our elections” and added a probe will be conducted.
Pangarungan also said the municipalities of Tubaran and Malabang in Lanao del Sur have been placed under Comelec Control with less than a month before the May 9 national and local polls.
“The Municipality of Malabang, which witnessed a spate of killings recently… has been declared under Comelec control pursuant to CBFSC (Committee on the Ban on Firearms and Security Concerns) Resolution No. 1 dated March 25, 2022, together with Tubaran, which has a history of election-related violence, both in Lanao Del Sur,” Pangarungan said.
He said placing the two areas under Comelec Control allows the poll body to undertake quicker responses to election-related violence.
From their roadside shanties, some 40 men and women belonging to the Manobo-Pulaguihon tribe marched to the disputed area behind a white banner held aloft on a 12-foot bamboo pole.
D’Angelo said he suggested that the white flag be carried in front to signify the peaceful nature of the protest march and prevent accusations that the indigenous farmers were looking for a confrontation.
At 15:56 of the video, just after D’Angelo explained the presence of the white flag, a gunshot cracked, sending people scampering for safety.
The footage showed the gunmen kept firing into the farmers’ group for several more minutes. There was no return fire from the IP farmers, a few of whom brought only bolos to clear vines and shrubs off the path.
According to Manobo-Polanguihon elders, the occupied land has been declared part of their ancestral domain way back in July 1998 but they were driven off from their farm lots when a private company moved in, protected by paramilitary armed men.
In a statement released to reporters, De Guzman’s Partido Lakas ng Masa (PLM) identified the firm as the Kiantig Development Corporation, said to be managed by Mayor Pablo Lorenzo III of the municipality of Quezon.
Magsasaka Party-list Rep. Argel Cabatbat condemned the attack, saying Abela is the party’s provincial coordinator for Bukidnon and Sultan Kudarat.
He called on the national government and law enforcement agencies to conduct an immediate investigation and arrest those who were behind the attempt to kill the farmers. — With Jocelyn Montemayor and Gerard Naval
