PRESS STATEMENT: EastMinCom Welcomes NCIP Issuance of 4 En Banc Resolutions Vs CPP-NPA-NDF’s Atrocities in IP Communities

The Eastern Mindanao Command (EastMinCom) welcomes and firmly supports the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples’ (NCIP) issuance of four en banc resolutions addressing the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front’s (CPP-NPA-NDF) gruesome killings, continued atrocities, and exploitation of the Indigenous Peoples.

NCIP simultaneously approved four en banc resolutions on October 20, 2021 pertaining to the CPP-NPA-NDF’s continued killing of IP leaders and members; radicalization, recruitment, and exploitation of IP youth; misrepresentation of the interests of the IPs through the establishment of IP organizations without consent; and continued exploitation of Bae Bibyaon, the culture bearer and highly respected “Bae” of the Matigsalug Indigenous Cultural Communities in San Fernando, Bukidnon.

This development is a big leap forward in bringing justice to the long-neglected IP communities of the country which bear the brunt of the CPP-NPA-NDF’s continued grisly killings, exploitation, recruitment, and other atrocities and acts of violence for decades.

 
The NCIP’s approval of the en banc resolutions is a bold step as it puts on the spotlight the deplorable plights of the IPs under the CPP-NPA-NDF’s agenda of terror and violence. It also sheds light on how the Communist Terrorist Group is using the IPs as milking cows in order to generate financial support from international organizations. The IP communities’ situation has long been shoved in the background; therefore, it is high time that the entire country pays attention to their plight and makes it the center in addressing armed conflict-induced societal problems.

Rest assured that the EastMinCom, to the fullest extent of its authority and resources, has already been working with other government agencies to help the IPs exercise their rights to self-determination and attain peace and development in their communities in consistency with the provisions and mandates of the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA) and other related laws. EastMinCom is already probing.

In recognizing the urgency to attend to the deplorable situation of the IPs in the country, EastMinCom urges all concerned government agencies including the Local Government Units to work together in adopting measures to address the problem caused by the CPP-NPA-NDF in IP communities and to once and for all end its menace by holding it responsible for its crimes through filing of appropriate charges before domestic and international courts for violation of human rights and International Humanitarian Law.

Let us all collaborate and use our resources to conduct an honest and credible investigation and bring justice and lasting peace to the IP communities.

Source: Public Information Office, Eastern Mindanao Command, AFP