Indigenous People's Watch

Zamboanga Execs Sue Lumad Leaders, Mediamen and Church Workers in Pasture Row

Twenty-six indigenous peoples, media practitioners and church workers face criminal raps for allegedly demolishing the barbed wire fence of a government pasture project in Tiala, Jose Dalman town, Zamboanga del Norte. The provincial government filed the criminal case.

BY ELMER D. SAGBIGSAL
Bulatlat.com

The resolution stated that the alleged crime carries a penalty of at least four years, two months and one day, with corresponding bail bond of P10,000 for each respondent. 

The warrant of arrest however has yet to be served. The respondents, through their lawyer Uldarico Mejorada, have filed motion for reconsideration and reinvestigation, saying that they were not given the chance to conduct preliminary investigation.

The motion argued that the alleged fence constructed by the government and allegedly destroyed by the respondents is within the ancestral domain of the Subanens.

It added “that the alleged uprooting of concrete post and piling of barbed wires from the land possession and occupied by the respondent as bonafide farmers of the land does not per se constitute malicious mischief in accordance with the German Doctrine of self-help where the occupants of a certain property have the right to use reasonable force to protect his right and interest over the disputed property.”

Condemnation

The LGU’s action against the Subanen protesters received criticisms and condemnation from various groups.

Rev. Sonny Peleron, chair of the Promotion of Church Peoples Response (PCPR) in Western Mindanao, condemned the inclusion of UCCP’s Pacatang, saying the move was a form of harassment of church people “fulfilling their mission of helping the poor and exploited.” 

A media group in Dipolog, the Zamboanga del Norte United Correspondence (ZNUC), also condemned the inclusion of its member, Bala, in the case. It said the provincial government was trying to shut out the media outlets with unfavorable reports on the governor.

Ronnie Pacilan, ZNUC president, added that the move constitutes media harassment and a curtailment of press freedom. 

The political group Anakpawis (Toiling Masses) described the government response as contradictory to the Lumads’ plea for basic social services. Francis Ocana, Anakpawis regional coordinator, said that “government is pushing the setting up of the (pasture) project that would deny the Lumads of their livelihood and security, instead of granting their demands for basic social services.”

Pursue to defend the land

The legal actions clearly meant to sow terror against the protesters and legally displace the Lumads from their ancestral land, said Simbulan, one of the named respondents. 

Simbulan said that the Subanen are not cowed by such actions but, instead, have become more determined to fight for their right over their land.

Simbulan said his tribe never left the land, not even when the military declared Tiala as a “no man’s land” in the late 1980s. He said the pasture project, even if owned by the provincial government, could not force them either to leave their land.

The attempt to set up structures for the pasture project started in 2000. But the construction was aborted after the affected communities showed strong opposition. A dialogue between a government representative and the people was then held in March 2000.  The Subanens submitted two petitions to the provincial government requesting for their help to reclassify the land from forestland to agricultural and withdraw the project in favor of the people.

Despite the petitions and dialogues, the provincial government continued its construction of the perimeter fence. Last Dec. 1, more than 100 Subanens and support groups brought down the fence and continued to bring down fences erected until last Jan. 1 when the workers finally halted construction work. Bulatlat.com

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