Save our Schools network demanded a full and impartial investigation over the killing of Indigenous Peoples (IP) advocate and former teacher Rowie Jhon Libot in Kalamansig, Sultan Kudarat last July 27.
Libot was slain by 37th Infantry Battalion, alleging him as a commander of the New People’s Army (NPA) with numerous criminal charges in Davao de Oro and Davao Oriental.
However, SOS network reported that three gunshots were heard not far from the community which implied that there was no exchange of gunfire that day. Furthermore, community members of Brgy. Hinalaan in Kalamansig affirmed Libot was supposed to travel back to General Santos to facilitate food and medical aid to the said community after staying there for about six (6) months.
A devoted teacher
Libot is described as an exemplary student leader who finished his Bachelor in Secondary Education in Liceo de Davao-Tagum in 2018. He was a scholar with the help of Lumad education advocates and beneficiary of the free tertiary education program of Mindanao Services Foundation.
After graduation, he volunteered for Center for Lumad Advocacy Networking and Services (CLANS) where he eventually taught on the displaced Lumad children in Bakwit schools in Metro Manila.
“Despite relentless harassment from military forces, he was so steadfast in learning the true situation of the Lumad people and has realized that being a teacher is a profession that will be fully exercised by teaching the true situation and giving alternatives that will really help the community such as agricultural science, food security and environmental protection,” SOS network said.
Even at the onset of a pandemic, Libot not only facilitated education but also medical and relief aid to highly militarized Dulangan-Manobo communities.
In October 2021, he sang “Pandayin Kinabukasan” as a tribute to Italian priest Fausto “Pops” Tentorio who was murdered in 2011. Tentorio is a staunch missionary, environmental defender, and IP rights advocate in tribal communities in Mindanao.
“Rowe’s brutal murder follows the killings of Lumad teachers Chad Booc and Jurain Ngujo, part of a horrific pattern of violence targeting indigenous educators and falsely branding them as rebels killed in a false encounter,” SOS network added.
Booc and Ngujo was among the New Bataan 5 who had been killed by 10th Infantry Division last February 2021 in a similar narrative of an NPA clash.
Like Libot, Booc is a volunteer mathematics teacher for ALCADEV, a Lumad alternative school in Surigao del Sur. Booc also used his platform in social media to expose the adverse effects of militarization among Lumad communities.
Meanwhile, five months after the New Bataan 5 killing came the arrest of Lumad activists Julieta Gomez and Niezel Velasco in Quezon City. They were charged with firearms and explosives possession, another similar allegation pursued against activists.
“We demand a full, impartial investigation into Rowe’s murder. The Commission on Human Rights must urgently conduct an on-site probe to expose the truth and end impunity on attacks on Lumad communities and human rights defenders,” SOS network asserted.
HRVs among IP advocates, environmental defenders
The spate of killings, arrests and threats among the human rights violations committed against IP rights advocates and environmental defenders have been perpetuated under the Marcos Jr. administration.
Rights group KARAPATAN noted the usage of the Anti-Terror Act (ATA) and Executive Order 33 (EO 33) against progressive groups or individuals designating them as terrorists.
Numerous groups, advocates, and solons have long been criticizing the “overbroad” and “vague” provisions of the Anti-Terror Act and called for its abolition since 2020; however, the former Duterte administration had enacted the law in which the current Marcos Jr. government has adopted and used in its counter-insurgency efforts.
On the other hand, the Marcos Jr. administration signed EO 33 to direct government agencies to adopt the National Anti-Money Laundering, Counter-Terrorism Financing, and Counter Proliferation Financing Strategy (NACS) 2023-2027. KARAPATAN said the government only aimed to exit the “gray list” of countries identified by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an informal intergovernmental body formed in the 1989 G7 Summit.
“In the Philippines, the adoption of the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act and the Anti-Terrorism Act are the direct results of the government’s desire to comply with the FATF’s criteria,” KARAPATAN furthered.
With the ATA in effect through the Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC), IP rights advocate and community-based doctor Ma. Natividad “Doc Naty” Castro had been designated as a terrorist in December 2022. Her property and funds including the related accounts have also been frozen a month after.
Similar to Doc Naty, another terrorist designation upon using ATA was made against six (6) IP leaders and advocates including Sarah Abellon Alikes, Jennifer R. Awingan, Windel Bolinget, Stephen Tauli, and May Casilao last June this year. Their assets had also been frozen a weeks after.
“These persons designated by the ATC as “terrorist individuals” have one thing in common: they have dedicated the greater part of their lives to defending and advancing the rights and welfare of the oppressed and the downtrodden,” said KARAPATAN.
Alikes, Awingan, Bolinget and Tauli are prominent leaders of the Cordillera People’s Alliance (CPA) which was established in 1984 at the height of the struggle against Ferdinand Marcos Sr.’s martial law.
Adding to the toll of HRVs under Marcos Jr. administration are cases of enforced disappearances or desaparecidos like Dexter Capuyan and Bazoo De Jesus who have been missing since April this year.
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