October 14, 2016 –  Employees  of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) visited the People’s Camp located at the University of the Philippines  in Diliman to provide food packs to the Moros and Indigenous People currently staying at the school grounds where the Lakbayan ng Pambansang Minorya para sa Sariling Pagpapasya at Makatarungang Kapayapaan is being held.

Together with DSWD Assistant Director for Disaster Response and Management Bureau (DREAMB),  Carlos C. Padolina,  the employees provided 3,500 food packs to the Moros and Indigenous People.

According to Dir. Padolina, the food packs consisted of 6 kilos of rice, 4 tins of sardines, 4 tins of corned beef/ beef loaf, and 6 sachets of coffee/ cereal drinks.  Members of the Kalipunan ng Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas (Katribu) and Suara Bangsamoro also assisted the employees in the distribution of goods.

“It is DSWD’s mandate to provide assistance to the families and communities experiencing emergency situations and displacement due to natural or man-made calamities. The Moros and Indigenous People in UP are internally displaced persons (IDP),” Dir. Padolina said.

DSWD Assistant Secretary for Special Concerns Jose Antonio Hernandez also gave a message of solidarity before the distribution of food packs.

“Rest assured that DSWD will continue to be responsive to the needs of the national minorities. We will also ensure that we maintain an open line of communication with our Moro and indigenous brothers and sisters,” Asec. Hernandez said.

Based on the discussions the employees had with the indigenous people and Moros in the camp, most of them left their homes due to continued harassments from the military and paramilitaries.

According to Katribu and Suara Bangsamoro members, this is due to the continuation of the counter-insurgency program of the previous administration called Oplan Bayanihan, and due to land grabbing of their ancestral lands perpetuated by corporations and landlords.

The participants of Lakbayan aim to bring to the heart of the country the struggle of the Moros and indigenous people for their right to self-determination, their call to end militarization, and their call to stop the plunder of their ancestral lands. They have also expressed support to President Duterte’s independent foreign policy and to the ongoing peace talks between the Government and the NDFP.

Manilakbayan has been a yearly event for Moros, indigenous people, and settlers in Mindanao. This year, it will be a  convergence of Moros and indigenous people from north to  south.

This year’s participants to Lakbayan include the Moros from the tribes of Maguindanao, Maranaw, Tausug, Iranon, Kagan, Sama, and Sangir; the Lumads of Mindanao from the tribes of Bagobo, Manobo, Higaonon, B’laan, Manobo-Dulagan, Talaindig, Subanen, Mandaya, Mansaka, Mamanwa, Tiboli, and Tagakaolo-Bagobo.

Contingents from Luzon are the Cordilleran tribes of Kankaney, Ibaloi, Bontoc, Isneg, Kalinga, Ifugao, Tinggian, Iyapayao, Bugkalot, Aggay, Malaweg and Bago. Mangyan, Dumagats, Palaw’an of Southern Luzon, and Aytas and Dumagat of Central Luzon.

“We are now learning through the help of Lakbayan 2016, that though their situation has improved in the past few months as some Lumads were already able to return home safely,  still several Moro and indigenous communities from different parts of our country continue to experience displacement and their rights violated. We need to get to the root causes of these problems to ensure that their communities develop based on their interest and customs,” DSWD Secretary Judy M. Taguiwalo said.

To further show  solidarity with the IDPs in Lakbayan, a bigger event is scheduled on October 20.  The  event will be participated in by a larger number of DSWD officials and employees.

Just this 12th of October, two motorcycle-riding gunmen gunned-down Jimmy Saypan, 48, a peasant from the Mandaya tribe and leader of Compostela farmers. A few days ago, Anoy Pasaporte, 28, a member of Panalipdan youth was shot dead in Mabini Compostela Valley. ###