The provincial government of Agusan del Sur and the municipality of Loreto town of the same province wrote a scathing letter accusing human rights group Karapatan of duplicity. The issue stemmed from the evacuees who were holed up for weeks at the Bankerohan gym last month when they were displaced from their villages by the skirmishes between government troops and communist rebels.The letter rued the “black propaganda” by Karapatan at the expense of the province and the local government of Loreto when the group claimed that the more than 400 evacuees fled because of militarization and hamletting of their villages.

Agusan del Sur Governor Adolph Edward G. Plaza, who signed the letter, claimed that Karapatan “wittingly or unwittingly” twisted the facts when it mounted a media blitz surrounding the four-day stand-off when residents of Loreto sought the help of the provincial capitol against the backdrop of hostility and violence in the remote villages.

The accusations were serious:

 Karapatan and other progressive organizations persuaded the evacuees from leaving the temporary shelter at the Covered Court of D.O. Plaza Sports Complex;

 Karapatan told the evacuees to hold vital information about their true health condition to authorities;

 The group “instigated” residents to not return home unless there’s a military pullout;

 Refusing entry to the crisis committee to negotiate with the leaders of the evacuees;

 Backtracking on the agreement to escort the evacuees home after the provincial government promised farm aids and livelihood;

And finally, after agreeing to bring them back to their villages, Karapatan and other progressive groups brought the displaced residents—jammed on three Elf trucks—along with another van for the lactating mothers and infants to Davao City instead of back home to Loreto.

The whole story is rich in irony: a group advocating human rights is putting the health and safety of innocent civilians at risk in for media mileage. While we do appreciate that activism is essential to point out government and military excesses, Karapatan does have a lot of explaining to do over its role in the whole fiasco.


Source: Mindanao Times

BUTUAN CITY, August 27 (PIA) -- The Regional Peace and Order Council (RPOC) of Caraga has created a Joint Investigating Teams on IDPs. in response to the reported internally displaced person (IDPs) situation in Loreto, Agusan del Sur.

In a letter dated August 19 to Caraga regional peace and order council (RPOC), Kahugpongan alang sa Kalambuan Association/ IDP Spokesperson Ricky C. Lope, HELP Agusan Sur Co-initiator and Spokesman Susan E. Claro, and HELP Agusan Sur Co-initiator and United Church of Christ in the Philippines Agusan District Conference Minister Rev. Jesse A. Pagalan appealed the Caraga RPOC for urgent action about the IDPs from Loreto who are taking temporary shelter in Davao City.

It was revealed that “around 500 individuals were forced to evacuate due to intensified military operations by the 26th Infantry Batallion and paramilitary group-Bagani Force in the four barangays of Loreto, Agusan del Sur. Apparently, internal displacement happened wherein hundreds of families of Agusanon Manobo lumads and peasants took refuge at the Barangay 5A Gym, Bankerohan, Davao City after the provincial government of Agusan refused to heed their humanitarian needs and appeals.”

The HELP Agusan Sur and IDPs sent their appeal to RPOC stipulating alleged existence of illegal private armed group and torture, and raised concerns and request for humanitarian assistance. They bared that the conflict has affected the livelihoods of IDPs and deprived the Manobo tribe from their ancestral domain.

With this, the Caraga RPOC immediately created a joint investigating team on August 19 to validate the allegations of the HELP Agusan Sur and IDPs from Loreto. The team will also conducting meetings necessary to discuss pertinent issues/concern on the IDPs, and prepare report and recommend measures based on the findings.

The joint investigating team headed by the DILG Caraga Regional Director Lilibeth Famacion is composed of the regional directors from Commission on Human Rights, Department of Social Welfare and Development, National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, Office of Civil Defense, National Economic and Development Authority, Philippine Information Agency, Philippine National Police-PRO 13 and commander of 401st Infantry Brigade of 4ID Philippine Army.

Meanwhile, Famacion revealed that the RPOC will be conducting special meeting on August 28 to discuss appropriate measures that the team will undertake in order to come up with a comprehensive approaches about the appeal of HELP Agusan Sur and the IDPs. (FEA/JSN, PIA-Caraga)