GENERAL SANTOS CITY -- An Army official finally cleared some 22 tribal families from a remote village in Lake Sebu town in South Cotabato to return to their homes, nearly three months after being displaced due to fighting between government troops and suspected New People’s Army (NPA) rebels.
Lt. Col. James Otida, commanding officer of the Army’s 27th Infantry Battalion (IB), said Tuesday it is now safe for the evacuees from Sitio Datal Bonlangon in Barangay Ned, Lake Sebu to return to their village and resume normal lives.
He said they have cleared the area of potential security threats, especially the presence of NPA rebels.
Residents of sitio Bonlangon, who were all members of the Taboli-Manobo tribe, were forced to evacuate to nearby Sitio Tulali on Dec. 3 last year following a clash between suspected NPA rebels and troops from the Army’s 33rd and 27IB.
Two Army troopers and nine suspected NPA members, including tribal leader Victor Danyan, were killed in the reported encounter.
“Rest assured that we will continue to secure the area against any possible threats,” Otida said.
He specifically cited concerns earlier raised by residents of another clash between government troops and NPA rebels.
The evacuees also noted the possible “continued harassments” by private security personnel of a nearby Consunji-owned coffee plantation.
Sitio leaders of Bonlangon and nearby Tuburan,and Tawan Dagat decried the constant threats they receive from the armed group that patrols 21-hectare plantation that they claim as part of their ancestral domain.
The South Cotabato Provincial Police Office had encouraged the sitio leaders to file complaints against the said group and assured them of police assistance in the process.
The Army official assured they will not tolerate any form of harassment against the tribal residents.
But he stressed that they cannot intervene in the land claims and can only assist the concerned parties, local government and the local police in securing the area.
Otida said the private security group had actually assisted them in the “neutralization and dismantling” of NPA presence in the village.
Owing to this, Milagros Rivera, head of the Provincial Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, said they have started the preparations for the return of the evacuees.
She said they are planning to transport the residents back to their community on March 1 and 2.
In coordination with the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office, she said the local government would provide the affected residents with the necessary assistance.
These include access to potable water and inclusion into the provincial government’s livelihood programs.
Lorca said the Lake Sebu Municipal Disaster and Social Welfare Office would conduct an awareness drive to give evacuees proper “understanding of the present state of their homes and assure their safety.”(FKA/PNA)
