11 YEARS AFTER LIANGA: END IMPUNITY, STOP THE ATTACKS AGAINST THE LUMAD!

KATRIBU Kalipunan ng Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas joins Lumad communities, Indigenous Peoples, and advocates in the 11th commemoration of the Lianga Massacre. The call for justice echoes for Emerito “Tatay Emok” Samarca, Dionel Campos, and Datu Juvello “Bello” Sinzo, who were brutally killed on September 1, 2015 by the Magahat-Bagani paramilitary group under the 75th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army in Han-ayan, Lianga, Surigao del Sur.

The massacre targeted a Lumad community defending its rights to ancestral lands, education, and self-determination. Samarca, executive director of ALCADEV, and Lumad leaders Campos and Sinzo were killed in an attempt to terrorize the community and weaken its resistance.

But the killings did not end with Lianga. The 2nd Lianga Massacre in 2021 and the continuing killings of Lumad farmers, teachers, community workers, and youth in different parts of Mindanao expose the persistent violence faced by Indigenous communities. These are not isolated incidents, but part of the state’s continuing militarization and counterinsurgency in ancestral territories, where Lumad communities are branded as enemies for defending their lands and resisting their plunder.

The repression extends to those who stand with the Lumad. The Talaingod 13, including former lawmakers Satur Ocampo and France Castro and 11 Lumad teachers, school administrators, and advocates, were prosecuted and convicted after joining a 2018 humanitarian mission for Lumad students and teachers threatened by the Alamara paramilitary group. While those who attack and displace Lumad communities remain unaccountable, those who come to their aid are criminalized.

Meanwhile, Michelle Campos, daughter of slain Lumad leader Dionel Campos, remains incarcerated while facing multiple trumped-up charges. Her father was killed for defending his community. Eleven years later, his daughter is being persecuted for carrying forward the struggle he left behind.

The Lianga Massacre is thus inseparable from the continuing struggle of Lumad communities today. The same system of militarization, repression, and impunity continues to threaten Indigenous Peoples who defend their lands and rights. Yet Lumad communities continue to resist and fight for their ancestral lands, education, culture, and self-determination.

KATRIBU demands accountability for the perpetrators of the Lianga Massacre and all killings of Indigenous Peoples. We demand an end to militarization, attacks on Lumad communities and schools, and the criminalization of Indigenous Peoples and their defenders.

Eleven years after Lianga, the killings continue. So does the resistance.

The Lianga Massacre was commemorated today through “PAKIGSANTUYA: Eleven Years of Impunity, One Continuing Struggle,” a forum at the University of the Philippines Manila followed by a protest in front of the Department of Justice.

Reference:

Beverly Longid

National Convener,

KATRIBU Kalipunan ng Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas