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Every night, they would hear the door open. When soldiers hit the door with truncheons, they knew one of them would be taken out.
A human rights leader who is at the forefront of assisting Lumad victims and evacuees is the latest to be slapped with criminal charges.
“The presence of the military’s ‘peace and development teams’ in the community bolstered the culture of impunity and even emboldened the perpetrators who killed the farmer-couple.”
“We have no discord, they are our brothers...but when the military armed them, they no longer recognize us as kin. And it hurts, because Lumads are being killed by other Lumads.”
“Such documents could only have been obtained by deliberate and systematized acts of surveillance and data-gathering on the part of respondents.”
“The filing of the criminal charges was obviously orchestrated by the military.”
“They make it appear as though we are criminals.”
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“We are demanding an investigation without the presence of the military because any investigation with their presence is useless.”
“Their murder is the murder of the peoples’ soul.”
Among some 3,000 Lumads seeking refuge at the Surigao del Sur Sports Center, there are two mothers of nearly the same age named Maribel Enriquez. Both seek justice for the plight they are going through because of the military.
“These killings are under the context of the counterinsurgency program which is running short on a deadline.”
“The fact says it all. They mingled with the crowd while armed and they gave the police false names when they were presented at the police station.”
Judge Alexander Tamayo said he could go through the case files “all in a day’s work.”
“This mining conference’s top sponsors are also the leading sponsors of paramilitary groups that have sown terror across the mine-affected communities especially in Mindanao."
“The apprehension of the two soldiers and one Magahat/Bagani member last September 13 only shows and proves they are connected.”
The three men brutally slain in the rampage by a paramilitary group in Surigao del Sur were laid to rest, amid calls for justice and the prosecution of their killers, suspected of following military orders.
“Be assured, my dear friends, be assured again, that you don’t stand alone.”
“General Iriberri, your fellow Surigaonons are being slaughtered in the military’s implementation of counter-insurgency operations.”
The three men killed in Lianga, Surigao del Sur on Sept. 1 were not only principled leaders who spent their whole lives helping others – they were also good, loving fathers.
"We expect the Philippine government to immediately and thoroughly investigate the killings and the involvement of the AFP, and bring the perpetrators to justice.”
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