Non-Moro IPs raise safety concerns after Maguindanao killings

COTABATO CITY – Non-Moro Indigenous Peoples (IP) leaders have called on the kin of slain IPs, estimated to reach 110 individuals in the past several years, to refrain from retaliating, calling on the government to bring justice to their deaths and strengthen safety measures for tribal leaders and communities.

The appeal came amid the fresh killings of Teduray leader Joel Magtud, a village councilor of Barangay Mahantao, Datu Hoffer, Maguindanao del Sur, who was gunned down on Saturday evening, October 17, in Datu Unsay town; and Cyril Tomas, a Teduray farmer from Barangay Limpogo, Datu Hoffer, who was shot the following day also in Datu Unsay.

Tomas’s cousin, Jayjay Guiaman, a member of the Civilian Armed Forces Geographical Unit (CAFGU), was seriously wounded in the attack.

READ: Twin attacks on IP members in Maguindanao del Sur condemned

Wilfredo Fantingan, a tribal chieftain in Datu Hoffer, noted that IP leaders and communities have a lingering feeling of being unsafe amid the continued violent attacks against their members, causing them fear.

He advised non-Moro IPs to exercise caution when travelling and avoid travelling alone.

Fantingan said the community was seeking not revenge but justice for the victims.

Col. John Michael Mangahis, Maguindanao del Sur police provincial director, told the Inquirer the two recent attacks were unrelated, adding investigators were still determining the motive and suspects behind the incidents.

He said the police have identified a person of interest in the killing of Magtud, but did not give a name. A Special Investigation Task Group has been formed to investigate the Magtud case.

Deeply alarming

The Bangsamoro Ministry of Indigenous Peoples Affairs (MIPA) also expressed alarm and condemned the recent attacks on IP members in Maguindanao del Sur.

“These acts of violence are deeply alarming and raise serious concerns about the safety and security of IP communities in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM),” MIPA Minister Guiamal Abdulrahman said in a statement on Tuesday.

“We express our solidarity with the affected families and communities during this difficult time and stand with them in their pursuit of truth, accountability, and justice,” Abdulrahman said.

READ: 2 dead in Maguindanao del Sur gun attack amid gun ban

Abdulrahman and Fantingan both called on security forces and concerned government agencies to strengthen security measures, ensure the immediate protection of vulnerable communities, and safeguard the lives, rights, and dignity of Indigenous Peoples across BARMM.

“The safety and security of every individual, regardless of ethnicity or cultural affiliation, must be upheld. Violence must not be allowed to instill fear among our communities or undermine the pursuit of lasting peace in the Bangsamoro,” Abdulrahman said.

Supreme Tribal Chieftain Leticio Datuwata, of the Timuay Justice and Governance (TJG) and an elected member of the incoming regular Bangsamoro Parliament, said the TJG has recorded 111 IP killings since 2019 to date.

The TJG is a traditional Indigenous political and governance system of the Teduray and Lambangian peoples in BARMM. The system is recognized as an Indigenous Political Structure (IPS) under the Philippines’ Indigenous Peoples Rights Act of 1997.

For its part, the Non-Moro Indigenous Peoples Youth Network (NMIPYN) urged the Bangsamoro Human Rights Commission to conduct an independent and comprehensive investigation into the IP killings and determine possible human rights violations.

It also appealed to the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU) to oversee and finalize the issuance of a proposed executive order establishing a comprehensive protection mechanism for non-Moro Indigenous Peoples (NMIP) in the Bangsamoro region./coa