DAVAO CITY – At least 200 leaders of Indigenous People (IP) from different barangays of Talaingod, Davao del Norte will stage a rally Wednesday at JBL Gym at the town center to seek justice for the death of a tribal leader and his son on February 4.
Capt. Edson Abello, the Civil-Military Operations (CMO) officer of 1001st Infantry Brigade, said the IP leaders of Talaingod town strongly raised their voice against the killing of Datu Banadjao Mampaundag and son Jhonard by alleged members of the New People’s Army (NPA).
Banadjao and Jhonard were killed inside their home at around 4 a.m. Sunday at sitio Igang, Barangay Palma Gil.
The incident happened a day after Banadjao came home from the IP Leaders Summit in Davao City called by President Rodrigo Duterte.
Banadjao was one of the tribal leaders who signed a manifesto of support to the government’s peace effort in the recently concluded Indigenous People Leaders’ Summit at Camp Felix Apolinario, the headquarters of the Philippine Army’s Eastern Mindanao Command (EastMinCom) in Panacan last week.
Major Ezra Balagtey, the spokesperson for the EastMinCom, said a group of Tagalog-speaking members of the NPA arrived at sitio Igang.
The commander or leader of the group reportedly gave the command to his subordinates as if they were government soldiers. But the armed men suddenly shot at Mampaundag’s house, hitting the victims.
The military said the murder could be an offshoot of the IP leaders commitment to stay away from the communist insurgents. (Rhoda Grace Saron/PNA)
