MindaNews / 6 October — At least 102 non-Moro Indigenous Peoples (IPs) have been killed in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) since its establishment in 2019, the latest of which is the brutal beheading of Teduray leader Ramon Lupos, data from the non-profit Climate Conflict Action (CCA) showed.
Previously known as International Alert Philippines, the CCA condemned the slaying of Lupos, a tribal elder of the Teduray-Lambangian ethnic group in Barangay Limpongo, Datu Hoffer town, Maguindanao del Sur Tuesday last week.
“Each killing is a reminder that promises of protection remain empty, and justice remains out of reach,” the independent peace monitor said over the weekend.
Last September 30, Lupos was found dead in a pool of blood from gunshot wounds at his farm by family members – his hands tied and he was beheaded.
He was killed on the eve of the Indigenous Peoples Month celebration.
CCA put to task the police, military and the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity for the continued killing of non-Moro IPs in the region.
The Indigenous Peoples Code has “failed to protect” those it claims to defend, and neither has the entire security infrastructure of the Philippine Government nor the leaders and custodians of the BARMM government, it noted.
The CCA said the violence against the non-Moro IPs in the Bangsamoro region “is not random—it is systemic.”
It is also a diabolical act designed to sow fear, drive the Teduray away from their ancestral lands, erase their identity, and elicit another round of revenge killings, it added.
The blood from this act of violence against the non-Moro IPs is on the hands not only of the perpetrators, but all those who allowed this to happen, the CCA said.
Bangsamoro Interim Chief Minister Abdulraof Macacua admitted that the non-Moro IPs in the region continue to endure injustices.
He condemned and vowed to give justice to the merciless killing of Lupos.
“This act of inhumanity is an affront to peace, justice, and human dignity. Walang puwang ang ganitong uri ng karahasan sa Bangsamoro,” Macacua said.
He ordered the law enforcement and security agencies in the region to conduct a thorough and swift investigation to bring the perpetrators behind bars.
“As we honor the life of Mr. Ramon Lupos, we reaffirm our solemn commitment that justice will be relentlessly pursued, not only for him and his family, but for all Indigenous Peoples who long for peace, dignity, and protection in our homeland,” Macacua said.
Member of Parliament Froilyn Mendoza, a female Teduray IP leader, said that Lupos is the remaining IP leader in Barangay Limpogo until he was killed.
She called on the authorities to bring to justice the perpetrators and stop the senseless and unabated killings of IP leaders in the region.
“Ang katarungan para kay Timuay Ramon Lupos ay katarungan para sa buong pamayanang katutubo (Justice for Timuay Ramon Lupos is justice rendered for the IP communities),” she said in a statement. (Bong S. Sarmiento / MindaNews)
