PHILIPPINES: Massive Displacement of Indigenous Villagers Due to Military Operation

Human Rights Ambassador William Nicholas Gomes contacts Philippine government over military terrorism in rural areas.

Lt. Gen. Voltaire T. Gazmin

(HONG KONG) - In the Philippines, government forces are conducting unprecedented and unannounced operations in Ansili, Zapanta, Kitcharao, and Agusan del Norte.

Try to imagine poor people having to abandon their own communities, for fear of government military forces killing them with live fire; exploding bombs forcing a pregnant woman into labor; human beings forced into an unhealthy, refugee status because of irresponsible, unprovoked military action carried out against citizens by their own government.

Six days ago, residents watched two military fighter planes conduct airstrikes over their community at 10:00 a.m., dropping four bombs in the nearby mountain areas. People on the ground estimated the detonation sites to be around 300 to 400 meters aerial distance from their homes. Some of the women reported feeling pressure on their chests from the repercussions from the blasts. In addition to the bombs, these innocent civilians trying to carry out their daily lives, also heard rapid gunfire after the bombing.

As the day progressed, the two fighter airplanes returned to the area, this time accompanied by a helicopter. The airplanes dropped bombs four more times while the helicopter strafed the forest areas. Frightened women and children shouted in fear, others reportedly panicked while a pregnant women suffered contractions. Then later that day, around 2:00 P.M., both military planes and the helicopter returned. This time, residents saw fully armed soldiers rappelling out of the helicopter that as it hovered over a nearby hill.

Fearful of the soldiers in full combat mode, these residents were unable to gather firewood which is their daily source of income, and they had to abandon refrain from harvesting from their own farm fields. At about 3:00 p.m, that day, because of hunger and fear of another bombing and aerial strafing, indigenous villagers decided to evacuate to the Bangayan village center.

Since their arrival, four children under six years old suffered diarrhea and were dehydrated while about 30 adults and children complained of abdominal pains. There were about 16 children and two adults who had upper respiratory tract infection requiring antibiotics while many others had colds and developed an intermittent cough. There are three pregnant women, with one suffering profound anemia. There are also children with infected wounds on their feet. They are in need of food, medicines, clothes, laundry soap, sleeping mats and potable water. They also need slippers and change of clothes, especially the children with infected wounds.

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May 11,2012 Ret. Lt. Gen. Voltaire T. Gazmin Secretary, Department of National Defense Room 301 DND Building, Camp Emilio Aguinaldo, E. de los Santos Avenue, Quezon City PHILIPPINES Fax:+63(2) 911 6213 Email: osnd@philonline.com Dear Ret. Lt. Gen. Voltaire T. Gazmin, I am William Nicholas Gomes, Human Rights Ambassador for Salem News.com. I am writing to draw your attention to the massive displacement of indigenous villagers in Agusan del Norte due to military operation. On 5 March 2012, at about 10am, residents in Ansili and Zapanta, Kitcharao, Agusan del Norte saw two fighter airplanes airstrikes over their community, dropping four bombs in the nearby mountain areas. They estimated the detonation sites to be around 300 to 400 meters aerial distance from their homes. Some of the women experienced pressure on their chests during the detonations. They heard rapid gunfire after the bombing. At about 11am, the two fighter airplanes return with one helicopter. The airplanes again dropped bombs four times while the helicopter strafed the forest areas. The women and children shouted in fear, others panicked while one of the pregnant women suffered contractions because the bombing seemed to come nearer this time. At about 2pm, both airplanes and the helicopter returned. Residents saw fully armed soldiers rappelling out of the helicopter that was hovering over a nearby hill. They heard chainsaws and saw big trees fall as the soldiers set up camp. In fear of encountering the soldiers who were in combat mode, they were unable to gather firewood that was their daily source of income. They were also unable to gather food from their farms. They divided the rice that was sold in sari-sari store but it was not enough to sustain them while they were unable to farm. Motorcycle drivers did not ply their usual route to bring food supplies in fear of being detained by soldiers (as they have repeatedly experienced in the past) along the uninhabited roads to Zapanta and Ansili. On 6 March 2012 at about 8am, two fighter airplanes and another helicopter circled the community. Residents saw the helicopter land on a nearby mountain they call Bongtud, around 1 km aerial distance from Ansili. The helicopter return at about 9am, again at 1pm and 3pm. Residents were becoming increasingly afraid of the coming operations because of the rapid buildup of fully armed soldiers so near their communities and the use of helicopters and airplanes during the aerial bombing. At about 3pm, because of hunger and fear of another bombing and aerial strafing, indigenous villagers decided to evacuate to the village center in Bangayan village. At about 5pm, 45 Mamanwa families from the Lumad communities of Ansili and Maribuhok started the eight kilometer trek to Bangayan village. Bringing only what they could carry such as a few clothes and livestock, children, old folks and pregnant women with their families walked in the gathering dusk. As night time neared, they used only fire lamps to light the way. They arrived in Bangayan at about 8pm. On 9 March 2012, because of sporadic gunfire and increased military presence and encroachment in the middle of Sitio Zapanta, eighty peasant families evacuated at about 2pm. They also walked to Bangayan village to seek sanctuary from the military operations. On 14 March 2012, 24 families from the Mamanwa community of Manhumapay, in the mountainous areas of Kitcharao reached sanctuary after one week of walking and avoiding the aerial bombings. Mamanwa is a Negrito tribe often grouped together with the Lumad. They are lesser in number and more scattered and nomadic. This group of about 100 individuals were very near the areas where the bombs were dropped, some children hit with shrapnel from the bombs, others suffered wounds and scratches as they lay on the ground during the bombings. They are currently among the 78 Mamanwa families who are in an evacuation center in Butuan City. I have learned that at present 149 families-evacuees from Kitcharao, Agusan del Norte. About 80 families are in the village hall and nearby houses of relatives and friends in Bangayan village, Kitcharao, Agusan del Norte, while 69 families, mostly Mamanwa, are in Butuan City, seeking sanctuary from soldiers who continue to pursue them even in the evacuation center in Bangayan. At Butuan City evacuation center on 14 March, 78 Mamanwa families with about 345 individuals from Kitcharao and Sitio Lusong, Puting Bato village, Cabadbaran City arrived in Butuan City to seek sanctuary and ask for help from the Agusan del Norte Provincial Government to petition the pullout of military troops from their communities and desist from the airstrikes in the community. They asked for shelter from the Provincial Government but were refused the use of the Provincial Capitol's covered gym, in favor of a private contract with an entertainment company who were to set up an exhibit until May. Local leaders from Kayapan-Amihan, a local lumad organisation, were able to ask for assistance from the village officials of Imadejas village for the use of their village covered court where they are now sheltered. Since their arrival, four children under six years old suffered diarrhea and were dehydrated while about 30 adults and children complained of abdominal pains. There were about 16 children and two adults who had upper respiratory tract infection requiring antibiotics while many others had colds and intermittent cough. There are three pregnant women, with one suffering profound anemia. There are also children with infected wounds on their feet. I also urged you to investigate on this matter and give attention to the evacuees who are in need of food, medicines, clothes, laundry soap, sleeping mats and potable water. They also need slippers and change of clothes, especially the children with infected wounds. I hope you take immediate action in this case. Yours sincerely, William Nicholas Gomes Human Rights Ambassador for Salem News.com www.williamgomes.org,

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Salem-News.com Human Rights Ambassador William Nicholas Gomes is a Bangladeshi journalist, human rights activist and author was born on 25 December, 1985 in Dhaka. As an investigative journalist he wrote widely for leading European and Asian media outlets.

He is also active in advocating for free and independent media and journalists’ rights, and is part of the free media movement, Global Independent Media Center – an activist media network for the creation of radical, accurate, and passionate telling of the truth. He worked for Italian news agency Asianews.it from year 2009 to 2011, on that time he was accredited as a free lance journalist by the press information department of Bangladesh. During this time he has reported a notable numbers of reports for the news agency which were translated into Chinese and Italian and quoted by notable number of new outlets all over the world.He, ideologically, identifies himself deeply attached with anarchism. His political views are often characterized as “leftist” or “left-wing,” and he has described himself as an individualist anarchist.