DAVAO CITY – The four missing parents belonging to an indigenous peoples (IP) community have safely returned to their village in the Davao del Norte town of Talaingod, the Police Regional Office in Region 11 (PRO-11) said Friday.
The parents – identified as Maymay Anlomon, Botigon Mandacawan, Loring Suladlaron, and Gumonoy Ilayao – were among the eight Ata-Manobo parents from Talaingod who were supposed to accompany the police to Cebu City to rescue their children.
Last week, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Debold Sinas said they learned that the parents were taken by members of communist rebel front groups who introduced themselves as police officers. (Related story here)
“Obviously, these four parents were lured into believing they would be reunited with their children in Cebu when they were taken by persons who disguised themselves as police officers. I can only surmise that this is part of desperate moves by the communist front organizations to evade charges of serious illegal detention and child exploitation,” Sinas said.
Police Maj. Eudisan Gultiano, PRO-11 spokesperson, said they received a call Friday morning from Bae Pilar Libayao, the Indigenous People Mandatory Representative (IPMR) of Talaingod town, informing them that the four parents have already returned home.
“They are currently under the custody of the tribal leaders,” Gultiano told Philippine News Agency in an interview.
The four parents are now undergoing debriefing at the Tribal Center of Talaingod, she said.
Based on a report of the PRO-11 Office of the Deputy Regional Director for Operations (ODRDO)-End Local Communist Armed Conflict (ELCAC), the said parents went to the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) Haran Center in this city on February 19 after learning of the Feb. 15 rescue operation in Cebu City.
The parents went to Haran to check the condition of their children, the report said.
However, it said the parents denied the report that they were taken against their will by unidentified personalities who disguised themselves as police officers.
“Maybe due to fear, or they were coached by personalities of Haran not to divulge any personalities therein. According to them, they decided to go back to Talaingod after they learned that their children are already at the quarantine facility of Talaingod,” the report said.
The police report added that the parents were hesitant to talk and that only Maymay Anlomon would respond to police queries while the others would bow their heads low and only gave short answers.
“Subject parents know in the beginning that it was the Municipal Social Welfare Development Office (MSWDO) and Philippine National Police (PNP) who will bring back the minors to Talaingod. It is just baffling why they went to Haran as they claimed,” the report added.
Gultiano, on the other hand, said the parents managed to visit their children, who are still in quarantine.
Some six parents earlier traveled to Cebu City to accompany their rescued children back to Davao.
Of the 13 Manobo children rescued in Cebu City, only six managed to return to Davao on Feb. 21 with their parents after the Children’s Legal Bureau canceled the travel of the other seven because they were not accompanied by their parents.
However, social workers from Cebu and Davao, with the tribal leaders, worked together to bring the children to Davao, where they could supposedly meet their parents.
The children were among the 19 minors from different parts of Mindanao who were brought to Cebu City by members of the now-defunct Salugpongan school, purportedly to undergo alternative learning. Authorities, however, said the children were undergoing some form of radicalization and revolutionary warfare indoctrination.
The rescue resulted in the arrest of seven suspects who are now facing charges of violation of kidnapping with serious illegal detention and trafficking in persons.
Sinas said the investigation showed that the minors were brought to the UCCP Haran Center in Davao City in 2018 by a Salugpongan teacher only known as “Michelle.”
They were then transferred to Cebu City without the knowledge and consent of the parents. (PNA)
