3 lumad, including 12-year-old, killed in Surigao del Sur

Three persons from the Lumad-Manobo tribe, including a 12-year-old girl, were killed by state forces during an operation in Lianga, Surigao del Sur.

According to Marisol Abdurahman’s report on “24 Oras,” relatives could barely recognize the child, identified as Angel Rivaz after her body was recovered along with her sister, Leni, and cousin, Willy.

Angel's body was wrapped in plastic and tape and a portion of her face had stitches. Her aunt believes that the child was raped.

The bodies of Leni and Willy were in a similar condition. 

Indigenous people’s and human rights groups have condemned the killings.

"This is the 25th massacre under Duterte’s counterinsurgency campaign, with victims killed en masse and with no mercy in all the other cases of massacres in different parts of the country," Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay said in a statement.

Leni and Willy are supposedly members of a group against mining operations being conducted at Andap Valley while Angel is a grade 6 student at the Tribal Filipino Program of Surigao del Sur.

“Kailan man ang rehimen itong ay hindi nagpakita ng malasakit sa mga katutubong lumad at maging ng kabuuan ng katutubong mamayan,” a protestor said.

(This regime never displayed compassion for Lumads and for the people.)

Meanwhile, Karapatan Caraga said the 3rd Special Forces Battalion shot the victims on June 15 at around 1 p.m. while they were farming abaca.

This was denied by the 4th Infantry Division, which claimed that the incident was an encounter and that the victims are members of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army.

The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) said the group was discovered due to a minor that was caught in a separate operation in Agusan.

The NTF-ELCAC claimed the group has been using children for a long time against the government.

“Sila po ay kasama sa engkwentro, may mga baril po sila. At ‘yun nga po, dahil pinutukan po ‘yung ating kasundaluhan, lumaban po sila,” 4th Infantry Division spokesperson Major Rodulfo Cordero said.

(They are part of an encounter, they had weapons. Because they fired at us, our soldiers fought back.)

The military also claimed that the group used anti-personnel mines.

Meanwhile, it said that one minor was rescued during the operation.

Authorities also supposedly retrieved weapons from the group.—Joahna Lei Casilao/LDF, GMA News