Red-tagged Cordillera leader faces murder raps
Bulatlat file photo of Windel Bolinget
Cordillera People’s Alliance and Bolinget’s family fear for his safety, noting that he can be subjected to a “tokhang-style execution” if he gets arrested and transported to Davao Del Norte for his case.
By KIMBERLIE QUITASOL
BAGUIO CITY After being red-tagged by state security forces, Igorot leader Windel Bolinget is now facing murder charges in Tagum City, Davao Del Norte, a place where he has never set foot on, according to his colleagues.
The Philippine National Police Police Regional Office 11 filed the complaint against Bolinget, chairperson of the Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA), before the Regional Trial Court Branch 30 in Tagum City, Davao del Norte. A certain Ranel Timbog Vender, in an affidavit, named Bolinget as among those who killed Garito Tiklonay Malibato on March 21, 2018.
Beverly L. Longid is the Global Coordinator of International Indigenous Peoples Movement for Self-Determination and Liberation (IPMSDL). Beverly is an indigenous Igorot belonging to the Bontok-Kankanaeys tribe from Sagada, Mountain Province in the Philippines. She is also the International Officer of Katribu – National Alliance of Indigenous Peoples in the Philippines, and Co-Chair of CSO Partnership for Development Effectiveness. The IPMSDL Global Secretariat is currently based in Quezon City, Philippines.
Indigenous Peoples, advocates and members of IPMSDL call for continuing struggle for self-determination to combat imperialist plunder and state-terror. Credit: Carlo Manalansan, International Indigenous Peoples Movement for Self-Determination and Liberation (IPMSDL)
Published December 25, 2020, 11:48 AM
The year 2020 is unlike any other, as the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic brought nations down to its knees and the community quarantines required Filipinos to stay indoors in order to curb its transmission.
Throughout all these ordeals, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) remained on its toes and kept a lookout against human rights violations. Concerned about women and children being stuck at home with their abusers, as well as sexual exploitation of children on the rise, the CHR broughts its services online.
CHR Spokesperson Atty. Jacqueline Ann de Guia said that they promoted the CHR Webinar Series called “Human rights in the time of Covid-19” in order to “educate the public and stakeholders on human rights principles and the importance of a human rights-based approach in ensuring the rights of the vulnerable sectors in this period of pandemic.”
RIGHTS are earned through hard-fought struggles. And for Indigenous Peoples (IPs), its fulfillment comes from the collective and continuous defense of ancestral land and territory, and assertion of their ways of life and the right to self-determination.
As the pandemic ravages and the global crisis deepens, the worldâs superpowers and the oppressive governments and systems continue to intensify widening inequality. Exacerbated neglect and discrimination to their access to health and basic services has been a grave threat to the 476 million IPs across the globe â the tip of the iceberg of todayâs social and economic inequities.
For those already faced with food insecurity due to loss of ancestral lands, access to food and livelihood became everyday challenges. And while the mobility of indigenous villages are limited, there are no breaks for extractives, logging, government and private projects, and militarization in indigenous territories.
Beverly L. Longid is the Global Coordinator of International Indigenous Peoples Movement for Self-Determination and Liberation (IPMSDL). Beverly is an indigenous Igorot belonging to the Bontok-Kankanaeys tribe from Sagada, Mountain Province in the Philippines. She is also the International Officer of Katribu - National Alliance of Indigenous Peoples in the Philippines, and Co-Chair of CSO Partnership for Development Effectiveness. The IPMSDL Global Secretariat is currently based in Quezon City, Philippines.
Indigenous Peoples, advocates and members of IPMSDL call for continuing struggle for self-determination to combat imperialist plunder and state-terror. Credit: Carlo Manalansan, International Indigenous Peoples Movement for Self-Determination and Liberation (IPMSDL)