Pres. Duterte’s statement on bombing and red-tagging Lumad schools was “tantamount to abandoning and condemning Lumads to state-sponsored atrocities.”
This appeal and “grave concern” were expressed yesterday by Anakpawis party list Rep. Ariel Casilao who noted that the Lumads had already been victims of the past Aquino administration.
Saying he had personally known Duterte as a “considerate politician” when he was still Davao City mayor, Casilao noted that the President “is familiar with the plight of the Lumad schools and communities.”
He recalled that in 2015, Duterte even called for a stop to atrocities against the Lumad folk after the brutal killings of a school executive and Lumad leader in an Alcadev school in Lianga town, Surigao del Sur.
“The common denominators between Duterte and his predecessor are the armed forces and ‘rightists’ cabinet members who are apparently dictating on the issue of peace talks with the left movement,” Casilao said.
Casilao also appealed to “different sectors who desire a democratic country to disapprove of this pronouncement against Lumads.”
He also urged “the President’s supporters within and outside the government to criticize him constructively and advise him to recant.”
“We refuse to see Pres. Duterte acting like a finger-puppet of the rightists in his cabinet, to the point of threatening the already marginalized and oppressed Lumad children. We urge him to resist the fascist tendencies and become anew a leader who comprehends the people’s struggles,” he added.
