AID TO IP COMMUNITIES. Lianga town Mayor Novelita Sarmen (2nd from left); Lt. Col. Joey Baybayan, commander of the Army’s 3rd Special Forces Battalion; and Dir. Rey Cueva of TESDA-Surigao del Sur; lead the distribution of food packs to nearly 100 Manobo families in Barangay Diatagon on Tuesday (May 5, 2020). Indigenous peoples (IP) leaders in the Surigao del Sur towns of Lianga and Marihatag are dismayed over the alleged neglect of Bayan Muna Party-list Rep. Eufemia Cullamat of the Manobo tribe. (Photo courtesy of 3SFBn)
BUTUAN CITY – Indigenous peoples’ (IPs) leaders in the Surigao del Sur towns of Lianga and Marihatag are dismayed over the alleged neglect of Bayan Muna Party-list Rep. Eufemia Cullamat of the Manobo tribe amid the 2019 coronavirus disease (Covid-19) crisis.
“Eufemia Cullamat is homegrown and already in Congress but is selective in helping the IPs,” said Hawudon Jumar Bucales, the Indigenous People Mandatory Representative (IPMR) in Lianga town, in a statement issued on Tuesday.
Cullamat and Bucales belong to the Manobo tribe in the area.
Bucales issued the criticism on the same day the local government units (LGUs) of Lianga and Marihatag distributed some 200 food packs among the Manobo families in both towns together with the Army’s 3rd Special Forces Battalion (3SFBn) and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).
The distribution in Lianga was held at the Manobo community in Sitio Simuwao (Kilometer 9) in Barangay Diatagon, and in Sitio Lucnobon, Barangay Mahaba, in Marihatag.
Bucales accused Cullamat of playing favorites by prioritizing the members of MAPASU--a leftist IP organization--to the disadvantage of the majority of the Manobo tribe members in Surigao del Sur.
MAPASU, or the Malahutayong Pakigbisug Alang sa Sumusunod, has long been accused by the military as being influenced and infiltrated by the communist New People’s Army (NPA).
Lianga's tribal chieftain, Datu Constancio Duhac, shared Bucales's view, saying Cullamat failed to allocate anything for the establishment of IP schools and farm-to-market roads in the area.
Duhac said the Bayan Muna solon has not been seen by the majority of the Manobos in Surigao del Sur for a long time, nor did they hear any help from the lawmaker amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
“It would be good to see if Eufemia Cullamat would work together with the members of ELCAC (Ending Local Communist Armed Conflict) to end to the ordeals of the IPs in the hands of the communist NPA terrorists,” Duhac said.
Bucales and Duhac expressed gratitude to the LGUs, national government agencies, and the Army for the "continued support" to the IP communities in the area.
The relief distribution to IP communities Tuesday was led by Mayor Novelita Sarmen of Lianga, Mayor Justine Marc Pelenio of Marihatag, Lt. Col. Joey B. Baybayan, 3SFBn commander, and Director Rey Cueva of TESDA-Surigao del Sur.
In a separate statement Tuesday, 1Lt. Krisjuper Andreo J. Punsalan, 3SFBn civil-military operations officer, said Sitio Simuwao in Lianga and Sitio Lucnodon in Marihatag are some of IP communities that have openly rejected the NPA and its alleged front--the MAPASU.
"As the IPs of Simuwao and Lucnobon stood their ground against the NPA, the government will not leave them especially during the time of the crisis brought about by the Covid-19," Punsalan added.
Brig. Gen. Allan Hambala, commander of the Army's 401st Infantry Brigade, vowed to continue holding relief efforts for the IP communities in Surigao del Sur.
"We have to remember that we do not only address the Covid-19 virus but also the Communist NPA Terrorist virus that corrupted our society for years. We have to put an end to both viruses,” Hambala said. (PNA)
