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NCIP, IP leaders debunk NGO school 'demolition' claim in Bukidnon

By Nef Luczon

September 4, 2020, 5:26 pm

<p><strong>RECLAIMED.</strong> The tribal school in Barangay Mapute, San Fernando, Bukidnon, is at the center of a controversy after the left-leaning Save Our Schools Network accused tribal leaders in the area of illegally demolishing a school run by the Mindanao Interfaith Services Foundation Inc. (MISFI). A fact-finding report by the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, however, debunked the allegation, saying the local tribal council merely wanted to reclaim the land where the school was built because the Department of Education has already built a school facility for their children. <em>(Photo courtesy of San Fernando Municipal Police Station)</em></p>

RECLAIMED. The tribal school in Barangay Mapute, San Fernando, Bukidnon, is at the center of a controversy after the left-leaning Save Our Schools Network accused tribal leaders in the area of illegally demolishing a school run by the Mindanao Interfaith Services Foundation Inc. (MISFI). A fact-finding report by the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, however, debunked the allegation, saying the local tribal council merely wanted to reclaim the land where the school was built because the Department of Education has already built a school facility for their children. (Photo courtesy of San Fernando Municipal Police Station)

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY -- Indigenous people (IP) leaders and the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) have denied allegations of a non-government organization (NGO) that state-linked "bagani" or tribal warriors were behind the alleged destruction of a school in San Fernando town, Bukidnon.

A fact-finding report released by NCIP Thursday showed that the school, run by the Mindanao Interfaith Services Foundation Inc. (MISFI), was being reclaimed by an IP group as part of its ancestral domain.

MISFI also operates the Salugpongan schools in Davao Region that were earlier ordered closed by the Department of Education due to lack of permits and for violating several regulations. Local officials and tribal leaders have also accused MISFI schools of teaching its pupils and students with anti-government propaganda, while the military alleged the schools have become recruitment venues for the communist New People's Army.

According to the NCIP report, IP leaders of the Matupe-Kalayag Tribal Association and Agta-Davao Inc. wanted to reclaim the area in Sitio Laburon, Barangay Mapute, San Fernando town as it is part of the ancestral domain of the Matigsalog tribe.

The local tribal council, the NCIP said, had tried to communicate to MISFI its decision to reclaim the land but was "disregarded".

The Save Our Schools Network (SOS), which the MISFI is a member, has earlier claimed that a group of armed paramilitary known as “baganis” allegedly attacked the MISFI campus on Aug. 26, and allegedly threatened the teachers and started tearing up textbooks.

However, this was denied by the tribal leaders interviewed by the NCIP who accused SOS and MISFI of issuing libelous statement.

According to the tribal council, they allowed the operation of the MISFI-run school since 2007 because there was not a single government school under the Department of Education in the area at the time.

"The structure was later used by MISFI as a proper school. The school was constructed using the resources of the domain and through the efforts of the IPs themselves. However, even then, the IPs were wary that the school had been teaching leftists propaganda and anti-government ideologies," the NCIP report said, based on the interviews and affidavits signed by the IP leaders in the area.

The NCIP report also quoted several IP leaders who said they had been wary and suspicious of the school for its links with the communist rebel movement but had to "endure sending their children to MISFI" because of the absence of any school in their community.

The NCIP investigating team is composed of Marie Pauline Superales, lawyer Jerie Marapao Ragsac, and Revelyn Pialan, who were also representatives of the provincial office of Bukidnon.

Libelous

Datu Lito Gambay, one of the chieftains of the Matigsalog tribe under the Matupe Kalayag Tribal Association (Makata), said in his affidavit that the SOS and MISFI statements pointing at him as the leader of the "paramilitary group" of "bagani" were libelous.

SOS claimed that the teachers saw the group led by Gambay destroying the school buildings and tearing textbooks. It alleged that Gambay's paramilitary group was under the command of the Army's 89th Infantry Battalion (89IB).

Lt. Col. Silas Trasmontero, 89IB commanding officer, denied they had any part in the incident, noting that it was solely the tribe which decided to reclaim the MISFI school.

Gambay, Trasmontero added, is a former NPA fighter who surrendered to the 89IB last year, hinting that this could be the reason why rebel-linked group is targeting the IP leader.

In his affidavit, Gambay noted the local tribal council had exerted effort to seek a dialogue with MISFI informing the latter that the IP community wanted to get the land back because DepEd has already constructed a school and provides educational services in the area for IP children.

Gambay said the tribal council even called for another dialogue on August 22 but the representatives of MISFI did not appear.

"On August 23, 2020, I called for a meeting of our Tribal Council of Elders together with the MISFI but they still ignored us even if we went to their area where the school is at. On August 24, 2020, as a sign of their disrespect to the Community, they (MISFI) instead held a "Brigada (clean-up drive)" and because of this act of disrespect," Gambay said in his affidavit.

"The tribal council held an emergency meeting around 7:00 in the evening that day and the entire tribal council came up with the consensus that we will take back the land where the school is at. That is why on August 25, 2020, around 6:00 in the morning, we went to the area to reclaim our Ancestral Domain," he added.

As part of its recommendations, the NCIP said the tribal leaders and IP organizations accused by SOS should charge the group of cyber-libel under the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012. (PNA)

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