20 Kilometers Walk Towards Safety? Residents of Lumad communities used as Human Shields

Yesterday, November 21, 2007, at around 9 o’clock in the morning, more than a thousand lumads and settlers, both young and old from nine lumad communities braved the rains and walked for more than 15 kilometers with whatever belonging they can carry. They arrived at the barangay center of Diatagon, Lianga, Surigao del Sur at around 5 o’clock in the afternoon. They add to the 48 families that evacuated from the hinterland communities of San Agustin last November 17. They leave behind homes, precious belongings, animals and farmlands.

It took more than an hour of dialogue with the military elements before the community members were allowed to leave the community.

There are however, at least 23 families along with 2 literacy teachers from the lumad community of Manluy-a, Diatagon, Lianga, Surigao del Sur prevented by the military from going with the neighboring communities to evacuate to safer grounds.

Around 500 military elements from the 58^th IB PA have been living in, under and around the houses of residents, lumad literacy schools and teachers’ cottages since November 4, 2007 up to the present. Military tents have been set-up in the middle of the community. Community members have become the military’s human shields in their military operations prompting the people to evacuate for fear of possibly being caught in a crossfire. Classes of the seven Lumad Literacy Schools and Lumad High School have been suspended.

Children have not been spared from being questioned by the military on the presence of NPAs in the area. Restrictions and checkpoints have been established. Names, cell phone numbers, engine numbers of single motors that pass by and licenses are listed. They were not allowed to go to their farmlands.

Community members lived in fear for more than two weeks, reliving the massive human rights violations that happened in the April to May 2005 military operations that resulted in scores of human rights violations.

They are now staying at the same cramped, cold evacuation centers that had been their homes in the 2005 evacuations in San Agustin and Lianga in Surigao del Sur.

The evacuees are demanding for the stop of military operations.

For Reference, contact: Rev. Modesto Villasanta, UCCP, CP. No.: 09192584146

Or Atty. Antonio Azarcon Tel. No.: (086) 211-3492