By Lilian Mellejor/PNA
DAVAO CITY — The Indigenous Peoples (IP) Council of Elders in the Davao del Norte town of Talaingod and several lumad youths are eyeing criminal charges against Bayan Muna president and former House representative Satur Ocampo, ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro and their companions.
Lipatuan Joel Unad, chairman of the Mindanao IPs Conference for Peace and Development (MIPCPD), said Monday the charges being planned against Ocampo pertain to potential violations of the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act of 2012.
Police last week filed cases against Ocampo, Castro and 16 others for allegedly violating Republic Act 10364 or the Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2012, in relation to Republic Act 7610 or the Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act, kidnapping, and failure to return a minor.
Informed consent
Unad described Ocampo’s group as “intruders of the ancestral domain of the tribe.”
The tribal leader pointed out that Ocampo’s group did not seek the tribe’s permission when they entered their ancestral domain, as well as in recruiting IP youths in activities organized by left-leaning organizations.
Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC), he said, is enshrined in the IPRA Law that Ocampo’s group had allegedly violated.
“Padayon ang among pag file sa kaso sa pagsulod nila sa ancestral domain (We will push the filing of cases against them,” he told local reporters during the Kapehan sa Dabaw.
A group of Lumad youths, he added, is also looking into pressing charges against Ocampo and his colleagues.
Condemnation
As this developed, some 42 tribal leaders signed a manifesto condemning the violation of the IP rights and the alleged Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) infiltration of tribal lands in Mindanao.
The manifesto, signed by the tribal leaders from Mindanao during the Kapehan sa Dabaw at SM Annex on Monday, cited the alleged trafficking and exploitation of 14 lumad minors in Talaingod town by Ocampo and others.
The tribal leaders also condemned the release of Ocampo and his companions while the investigation was ongoing.
The Mindanao Council of Elders also banned all non-government and even government organizations from tribal lands without first obtaining FPIC from the Council of elders.
Ocampo and his colleagues were released on bail Saturday evening.
The Bayan Muna leader said he and his group headed to Talaingod on the evening of November 28 following reports that the children and teachers of a tribal school were fleeing after the alleged forcible closure of the school by the Talaingod municipal government and the IP’s Council of Elders.
