http://www.miils.

org/

The Lumad is a term being used to denote a group of

indigenous peoples of the southern Philippines. It is a Cebuano
term meaning "native" or "indigenous". The term is short for
Katawhang Lumad (literally "indigenous peoples"), the autonym
officially adopted by the delegates of the Lumad Mindanaw
Peoples Federation (LMPF) founding assembly on 26 June 1986
at the Guadalupe Formation Center, Balindog, Kidapawan,
Cotabato, Philippines. It is the self-ascription and collective
identity of the non-Islamized indigenous peoples of Mindanao.

There are 18 Lumad ethnolinguistic groups namely, Atta,

Bagobo, Banwaon, B’laan, Bukidnon, Dibabawon, Higaonon,
Mamanwa, Mandaya, Manguwangan, Manobo, Mansaka,
Subanon, Tagakaolo, Tasaday, Tboli, Teduray, and Ubo.
https://intercontinentalcry.org/indigenous-peoples/lumad/
Understanding the Lumad
A Closer Look at a Misunderstood Culture

This book hopes to help readers gain better insight into the Lumad culture. It celebrates the Lumads’ right to be
different. It hopes to contribute to the effort of correcting the historical injustice done to the Lumads for
centuries.

INTRODUCTION
The Manobo village of Sitio Talos in barangay San Jose is just a 30-minute habal-habal (motorcycle for hire)
ride from the town of Santo Tomas (also locally known as Tibal-og) in Davao del Norte. “Among the 11
indigenous communities we are supposed to visit, the village is the easiest to reach,” Ruel, a former staff of
Silingang Dapit sa Sidlakang Mindanao (SILDAP-SE), said at the beginning of the trip.

Surprisingly, the road was well-kept, owing to the banana plantations that (unfortunately) replaced the trees in
the mountains. But halfway through the smooth, rolling ride, we happened to turn around and found ourselves
staring down a precarious ravine far below.

“This is what’s happening to us,” Datu Dumakonog Tumaytay, the Manobo leader in Talos, reflected as soon as
we got to his place near the top of the mountain. “We are pushed deeper and deeper into the forest.”
“But why do we shun the life below?” he continued. “As Manobo, we don’t want trouble. We want to keep to
ourselves. We like the peace, the breeze that only the mountains can give. We leave the chaos to those
below.”

Beyond the bluish haze of distant hills lies the Pantaron range, the sacred hunting ground of the Manobo. The
place still remained untouched by mining and logging. But another Manobo leader has been waging a
pangayao (ultimate act of the tribe to seek justice) to defend the area against a big logging company whose
project had begun to encroach into their ancestral land.

The Manobo is just one of the Mindanao Lumad groups whose stories are included in this book. But Datu
Dumakonog Tumaytay’s remark echoed down the 11 indigenous peoples we visited in the course of the writing
and the validation of this book.

In the Philippines, laws like the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA) define the indigenous peoples as those
who have been living in the land since time “immemorial” and who have retained their customs and beliefs,
including the economic, political and cultural system, practiced by their ancestors even before the years of
colonization.

But the movement of settlers from Luzon and the Visayas, which started in the Spanish period and has
continued up to this day, had driven the Lumad (collective name for the indigenous peoples of Mindanao)
deeper into the last remaining forests. These days, there are 18 indigenous groups living in the most difficult
areas in Mindanao.

But it is not just the bad roads, the ravines and the difficult terrain that have separated the Lumad from the
people below. Through the years, the Lumad have managed to keep their customs and traditions intact but
differences in worldviews with settlers and other newcomers have given rise to long standing biases and
misunderstandings.

The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples has set the minimum standards for the
survival, dignity and well-being of the indigenous peoples around the world. It has also re-affirmed the Lumad
right “to their distinct culture” and the right to their ancestral lands.

But up to this day, the Lumad are not only driven away from their lands. Derogatory attitude towards their
culture also continues to take root in the consciousness of non-Lumad, making life even more difficult for the
Lumad. Oftentimes, we hear statements that plainly reflect this attitude.

“Ah, hugaw kaayo ka, mura man ka’g Manobo (You’re so dirty, you look like a Manobo)” or “Guapu lagi ka?
Mura ka’g di Mansaka (You look handsome. You don’t look like a Mansaka at all),” are statements oftentimes
spoken right to their faces.

By coming up with this book that introduces the culture of the Lumad, the non government organizations
SILDAP-SE and Tebtebba (Indigenous Peoples’ International Centre for Policy Research and Education) hope
to address this bias.

This book hopes to help readers gain better insight into the Lumad culture. It celebrates the Lumad right to their
distinct culture. It also forms part of the SILDAP-SE’s campaign to end other forms of discrimination against the
Lumad. It is done with the hope that the new generation of Lumad in Mindanao will begin to appreciate deeper
their culture, instead of being alienated from it.

Physical constraints, however, have limited the scope of this book to only 11 indigenous peoples in Mindanao.
These are indigenous peoples that SILDAP-SE has already established contacts with, like the Mandaya of
Davao Oriental, the Mansaka of Compostela Valley, the Dibabawun of Kapalong and the Manobo of Davao del
Norte, where SILDAP-SE runs a number of schools for Lumad children.

They also include the B’laan of Mt. Matutom, the Bagobo of Davao del Sur, the Manobo of Agusan del Sur, the
Teduray in Upi, Maguindanao, the Subanen in Zamboanga, the Higaonon in Cagayan de Oro and the
Mamanwa in Surigao. They are indigenous groups that SILDAP-SE had established indirect links through the
network of non government groups working with the Lumad.

Quite a number of books have already been written about the Lumad in Mindanao. But this is the first
conscious attempt to involve the leaders of the community in the process of writing and research, in the hope
that in doing so, this book will reflect the Lumad views and perspectives.

As a non government organization working with the Lumad for the last 27 years, SILDAP-SE took rigorous care
in consulting with key leaders of the communities and convincing them to take part in the project. Researchers
entering each of the areas followed standards of protocol, asking permission from the communities before
doing the research. After the actual writing, the material was presented back to them for validation and review
before it underwent another set of revisions and rewriting.

From the first Manobo village we visited for the validation activities, this book brought us to other Lumad
villages more difficult to reach. On the way to sitio Batiano of Caraga town in Davao Oriental, a road was
scraped to connect Caraga to the Maragusan town of Compostela Valley in the opposite side of the mountain.
But villagers pointed out that the new road network actually led to villages where potential mining exploration
would be done.

Towards dusk, in a Mansaka village in Maragusan, we sat, knees on our chins, in the porch of one of the
houses, looking up at the looming shadow of Mt. Kandaraga, when Babo Felina Pacio, our Mansaka host,
recounted the story told to her by her mother and her grandmother: how one day a long, long time ago, the
ground around the daraga (maiden) crumbled, leaving untouched the place where she was seated. That was
how the mountain “Kandaraga” came to be called. Babo Felina pointed to the portion of the mountain where a
rock, shaped like a chair, stood. It was the rock where the maiden sat when everything else around her
crumbled. “She must have been our great, great grandmother,” Babo Felina said. “We (the Mansaka) must
have all descended from her.”

For SILDAP-SE, what is lacking even in the current attempts by groups to promote the culture of the Lumad is
the understanding of the basic principle that gave rise to this culture. For a non-Lumad, a B’laan’s tabih is just
another cloth or a souvenir.

But for the B’laan, a tabih is not just an item for sale. It is a part of life, linked to their relationship with the land
and with each other. There is a whole system in the life of the B’laan that leads to the making of the tabih.
And so, it is with the Mandaya’s dagmay (woven abaca cloth).

In fact, there are lots of things in the culture of the Lumad that a non-Lumad needs to understand, says Allan
DeliDeli, the executive director of SILDAP-SE. A Subanen timuay (traditional leader) we talked to during the
validation workshop recounted with shock and horror how an academic researcher had “desecrated” their lake
near the top of Mt. Malindang by catching the birds and butterflies the Subanen considered sacred and then,
stripping the creatures of carcasses to bring them back to the city as stuffed animals.
Ironically, though, the places where the Lumad live are also considered as the country’s last frontier in the
battle for resources. A map showing areas with the highest mining potentials and the last remaining forests in
Mindanao actually showing that these are also found in the ancestral lands of indigenous peoples.
Of the 23 top priority mining projects under then President Arroyo’s mining revitalization program, 10 are in
Mindanao, mostly within the ancestral lands of indigenous communities. Aside from mining and logging, big
plantations also encroach into these indigenous peoples’ areas; and despite laws like the Indigenous Peoples
Rights Act that supposedly protect the indigenous peoples’ rights, big corporations still manage to enter their
ancestral domain.

The majority of the Lumad communities included in this book voiced out their disappointment over the National
Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) and complained of manipulation in the way that the free and prior
informed consent (FPIC) were taken to allow the entry of big companies into their ancestral lands. This is true
with the Mandaya in Caraga, Davao Oriental and the Bagobo in sitio Tudaya, Santa Cruz, Davao del Sur.
Since everything about themselves—their culture, their political and economic system—is closely linked with
the land, the Lumad find it hard to practice their own culture when they are driven away from the land.
In 2008, the plight of the Subanen struggling against the encroachment of a big Canadian mining company into
their ancestral land caught the attention of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of
Racial Discrimination (CERD). CERD sent the Philippine government a strongly-worded statement, calling to
attention the government’s international commitment and the need to respect the Subanen’s right to their
ancestral domain.

Sometimes, the struggle to defend the ancestral lands turned some Lumad into fugitives, as in the case of the
Talaingod Manobo Datu Guibang Apoga of Salupungan ta Tanu Igkanogon. Datu Guibang waged a pangayao
against Alcantara and Sons, Inc. whose Integrated Forest Management Agreement had encroached into their
territory.

All the Lumad groups covered in this book consider the struggle for their ancestral domain and the right to self-
determination as their most important concern. Without land, they could not practice their own economic and
political system, their customs and their tradition.

They are hopeful that this research will help the government understand them as a people.
Except for the Dibabawun, most of the groups feel that their identity has been imposed on them by outsiders
without their consent. Although this did not bother some groups, like the Mandaya of Davao Oriental, it was a
source of concern for the Manobo of Talos.

Dibabawun leader Datu Biran Casigtuan observed how the difficult struggle for survival and the coming in of
settlers have alienated the Lumad from their culture. “Sometimes, we don’t know where we come from
anymore,” he said, “Especially when those who could tell us are no longer alive.”

This book hopes to contribute to the effort of correcting the historical injustice done to the Lumad for centuries.
We hope that it can generate increased genuine interest in the Lumad culture so that people will gain insights
and a deeper understanding of their way of life, and hopefully, address the age-old bias against them as a
people.

http://www.tebtebba.org/index.php/content/212-understanding-the-lumad

FAINA ULINDANG

LUMAD is a Bisayan term meaning “native” or “indigenous”. It is adopted by a group of

15 from a more than 18 Mindanao ethnic groups in their Cotabato Congress in June
1986 to distinguish them from the other Mindanaons, Moro or Christian. Its usage was
accepted during the Cory Administration when R.A. 6734, the word Lumad was used in
Art. XIII sec. 8(2) to distinguish these ethnic communities from the Bangsa Moro.

At present, Mindanao Lumads account for 2.1 million out of the total 6.5 million
indigenous people nationally. (1993 Census) these fifteen Lumads in the Cotabato
Congress were the following:

Subanen, B’laan, Mandaya, Higaonon, Banwaon, Talaandig, Ubo, Manobo, T’boli, Tirur
ay, Bagobo,Tagakaolo, Dibabawon, Manguangan, and Mansaka.

They are found in the following towns and cities:

Cotabato, Tandag, Dipolog, Kidapawan, Marbel, Tagum, Cagayan de

Oro, Davao, Malaybalay,Pagadian, Butuan, Surigao, Ozamis, Ipil, Digos, Mati and Dipo
log.

History

About the 11th century, called the “emergent period” by the anthropologist, F.
Landa Jocano, the dynamic interactions between the indigenous cultural elements and
that of the migrants brought about the eventual narrowing down into distinct ethnic
groups. Pigafetta, Magellan’s chronicler in 1521, mentioned four Mindanao groups as:
Caragan, Mandanaos, Lutaos, Subanus and Dapitans. Apparently, the Caragans were
found in the Misamis Oriental, Agusan, Bukidnon area. The Mandanaos in Central
Mindanao; Lutaos in Zamboanga del Sur and Basilan; Subanus and Dapitans in
Zamboanga del Sur and del Norte; and the Dapitans in Zamboanga del Norte provinces
as these are called today.
 Called ” infieles” during the Spanish regime, the subjugation of the Lumads was
equally important as that of the Muslims. Thus, Jesuit missions were established
near infieles territories. They were found among the Tiruray in Cotabato; among the
Subanons in Dapitan; among the Manuvus and Caragans in Misamis and Surigao; and
among the Bilaans in Davao.

Economically, Lumads practiced swidden agriculture depending on the land’s

productivity. Communal sharing of resources based on the belief of the sacredness of
land and nature as divine endowments define their relationship with their environment.
Their socio-political arrangements were varied. The Mandaya were led by their bagani
or warrior while the Bagobos, Manuvu as well as most of the Lumads by their datu. The
Datu’s subjects were his sacops. The Lumad remained isolated and withdrawn from the
hills and forest that were difficult to penetrate. The Spanish colonial strategy was to
begin colonization along the coast towards the plains for purposes of trade and political
consolidation. During the Revolution of 1896, Lumads joined a band
ofdeportados and boluntarios who started a mutiny in Marawi City against their Spanish
superiors. They roamed the Misamis Oriental area, harrassing and wrecking havoc on
Chinese and Spanish-owned business establishments. They were fully armed and
looked “healthy”. They were led by an armed Lumad named Suba who had his own
trumpeteers announce their coming. They were later known to have joined a group of
rebels on the Agusan area who left to join the Katipuneros of Luzon.

The Lumads in Mindanao resisted against American colonization. In 1906, Gov.

Bolton of Davao was murdered by the Bagobos in the area. Between 1906-1908 the
Tungud Movement of the Lumads in Davao spread through Agusan and Bukidnon. A
Subanon uprising against the Americans occurred between 1926-27. The coming of the
Japanese in Davao was resisted by the Bagobos between 1918 to 1935 as the latter
threatened to displace them from their homelands for business purposes.

When American rule was consolidated, a systematic policy to integrate Mindanao

and Sulu began. Lumads and the Muslims were grouped under a tribal system. In
Davao there were 6 (Ata, Guiangga, Mandaya, Manobos, Tagakaolo); 18 in Cotabato,
13 in Lanao; 9 in Sulu; 5 in Zamboanga; 56 in subdistricts. The District Governor who
headed the wards had a deputy in the person of the Lumad datu.

Moreover, American rule and later during the Commonwealth, the Lumad
landscape changed. For instance in the plains of Tupi and Polomolok in South
Cotabato, Blaan Lumads gave way to the Dole pineapple plantations; Higaonons and
Talaandigs who thrived by the plains of Bukidnon were neighbors to the Del Monte
plantations. By the 1960’s bulldozers, cranes and giant trucks were ubiquitous in the
area of the Banwaons. Foreign agribusiness covered a thousand to 3,000 ha. of Lumad
lands in Bukidnon-Davao area.

Thus, concern for the Lumads in Mindanao during the contemporary times focused
on the development projects that threaten to displace the Lumads from their homeland.
An example of this is the hydroelectric project of the PNOC based in Mt. Apo which is
being resisted by the Bagobo in Davao. Legislations for the protection of ancestral lands
by the cultural communities had been passed by Congress. Senate Bill 1728,
sponsored by Juan Flavier entitled, Indigenous People’s Rights Act (IPRA) of 1997
seeks to “recognize, protect and promote the rights of indigenous cultural communities
and to appropriate funds for the purpose.

Addendum

Most recently, new heroes among the Lumads were put to the fore in
commemoration with the Centennial Celebration of the Philippine Revolution. A Manobo
Protestant pastor, Mars Daul, researched on the history of the Lumad warriors through
interviews with his forebears. These heroes are Datu Balingan, who defended the
Mansaka and Mandaya ethnic groups in Davao Oriental from the hands of the Spanish
official, Capt. Uyanguren; also Datu Bago of the Bagobo ethnic group fought Uyanguren
in Davao City and Putaw Tumanggong, a Manobo chieftain who is Daul’s grandfather.
Tumanggong led his men in fighting the Spaniards and the Americans at the turn of the
century. In Sarangani, the group B’laan leader Sigalu joined forces with Datu Lumanda,
who made the Spanish fleet retreat to its base in Cebu . However, according to Daul,
some Lumads refrained from fighting the Spaniards such as the Tirurays because the
Spaniards built them schools and chapels. The historicity of Mars Daul’s research
however still has to be verified.

About the Author:

Faina Ulindang is a professor at the Department of History, Mindanao State University,
Marawi City and Lecturer at its Graduate School.
http://ncca.gov.ph/subcommissions/subcommission-on-cultural-heritagesch/historical-research/lumad-
in-mindanao/

TIMELINE: Attacks on the

Lumad of Mindanao
'A form of ethnocide,' the attacks on the indigenous communities in the last 4
months are concentrated in Bukidnon, Davao del Norte, and Surigao del Sur

Karlos Manlupig
Published 9:00 AM, September 16, 2015
Updated 9:00 AM, September 16, 2015
Photo by Karlos Manlupig/Rappler

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Kalumaran, a confederation of different indigenous

tribes in Mindanao, has expressed alarm over a series of direct attacks, killings,
arrests, harassments, zoning, and vilification in Lumad areas where it says there
is a strong resistance against environmental plunder.

The attacks are concentrated in the provinces of Bukidnon, Davao del Norte, and
Surigao del Sur, which are hosts to Lumad schools that are privately operated
but are regulated by the Department of Education (DepEd).

"It is a form of ethnocide but it is worse because there are specific characteristics
of impunity and killings targeting the Lumad. What is alarming is that it is
happening all over Mindanao," said Kalumaran secretary general Dulphing Ogan.

Several incidents have been reported in the last 4 months:

May 2015

More than 700 Lumad were displaced from Talaingod in Davao del Norte after
alleged government forces and the anti-communist paramilitary group Alamara
occupied several villages in the town and in Kapalong. Human rights groups
reported of cases of harassments, vilification and indiscriminate firing.

Hundreds of students were also deprived of the right to attend their classes after
at least 24 primary and secondary schools operated by the Salugpungan Ta
Tanu Igkanugon Community Learning Center (STTICLC) and Mindanao Interfaith
Services Foundation Incorporated Academy were shut down and the teachers
were threatened to be killed.

Davao del Norte Division head of the DepEd Josephine Fadul said the
recommendation for the closure of the schools was based on a meeting with
high-ranking military officials at the "Regional Intelligence Committee" on April
23.

June
The Department of Education Region XI declared that the schools were "not
closed but just not reopened." The military and DepEd announced that the
schools would be replaced by the military using "para-teachers" or soldiers who
will act as teachers.

The administrations of the schools cried foul over the decision of DepEd,
asserting that the government should facilitate the involvement of NGOs that are
trying to fill in the gaps in the education sector. STTICLC and MISFI explained
that the inaccessibility of the area and the present conflict situation made the
process of compliance more challenging.

July 23

More than 500 policemen and government agents, led by North Cotabato 2nd
District Representative Nancy Catamco, conducted a "rescue operation" at the
evacuation center at the Haran Center, which is operated by the United Church
of Christ in the Philippines, to force them to return home.

The event resulted in violence after the police forcibly opened the gates of the
center and stormed with their truncheons and shields, which left at least 17
Lumads, including a tribal elder, and 2 cops injured.

July 26

Chaloka Beyani, the United Nations special rapporteur on the human rights of
internally displaced persons, went to the evacuation center in Davao City to talk
to the tribal leaders and displaced residents. He said that his impression was the
Lumad were not being detained inside the evacuation center contrary to the
claims of the military. Beyani said no one should forcibly take away the Lumad
from the evacuation center.

August 13

Beyani issued another statement, saying that the military "distorted and
misrepresented" his views making it appear that he was accusing support groups
of manipulating the Lumad. Eastern Mindanao Command's spokesperson
Colonel Eduardo Gubat resigned after making a public apology.

August 18
Five Lumad, including a 13-year-old and a 17-year-old, were killed by the Special
Forces in Pangantucan town in Bukidnon. The military said they were rebels, but
the New People's Army denied the claims, saying the victims were civilians.
Later, the 4th Infantry Division, despite their press releases and press
conferences claiming that the 5 Lumad were rebels, recanted and accused the
NPA of killing the victims.

August 24

A 14-year-old Manobo girl from Talaingod filed rape charges against 3 soldiers.
The military confirmed that the suspects were soldiers, but explained that the
charges were dropped after they paid P63,000 to the family.

August 27

Soldiers arrested 11 Manobo tribal and farmer leaders in the town of Kitaotao
and transported them by a helicopter. The soldier then declared that the village
was already "liberated" from the NPA. The military said the arrest was made after
they served 57 search warrants in a community of suspected communist rebels,
where they reportedly yielded an improvised M16 rifle, an M79 grenade launcher,
3 rifle grenades, two explosives, and subversive documents.

Isidro Indao, spokesperson of the Kahugpongan sa mga Mag-uuma sa Kitaotao

(KMK), denied the military's claims. He asserted that these leaders and
organizations were targeted because they were vocal in the campaign against
human rights abuses in the mountain communities and were calling for the
armed groups, most especially the military, not to occupy civilian villages.

August 28

Several families fled their homes after the Bagani paramilitary group, led by a
certain Jasmin Acevedo, killed Lumad brothers Crisanto and Loloy Tagugol in the
poblacion area of San Miguel town in Surigao del Sur.

September 1

At least 2,000 residents from the village of Diatagon in Lianga, Surigao del Sur,
were displaced after a group of paramilitary, allegedly accompanied by soldiers,
killed Emerico Samarca, executive director of the Alternative Learning Center for
Agricultural and Livelihood Development (ALCADEV).
Samarca was found hogtied, with a stab wound, his throat slit open inside a
classroom. ALCADEV is a privately operated but government-regulated learning
institution that provides basic and technical education to Lumad children in
communities rarely reached by government services.

After killing Samarca, the armed men peppered with bullets Dionel Campos and
his cousin Datu Bello Sinzo while the entire village was watching. Campos was a
community leader and the chairperson of the indigenous people group
Maluhutayong Pakigbisog Alansa sa Sumusunod (Mapasu), which is known for
its firm position on the protection of ancestral lands and its campaign against
human rights violations targeting indigenous people.

September 2

At least 10 houses and a Lumad school were burned by the Magahat-Bagani

paramilitary group in the community in Panocmo-an in Diatagon, Lianga, Surigao
de Sur. The group also burned a corn sheller owned by the community in
Kabulohan. Both communities are not far from the site where Samarca, Campos,
and Sinzo were killed.

September 4

Residents sought refuge after an armored personnel carrier and two 6x6 military
trucks carrying soldiers in full battle gear rolled inside a village in Pangantucan
town in Bukidnon.

September 8

Five Lumad evacuees were arrested by a cop in Tandag City for distributing
leaflets about the recent attacks.

Ogan of Kalumaran said his group had documented only the major cases. There
are other reports of daily harassment, zoning, and occupation done by the
military and paramilitary groups.

Surigao del Sur Governor Johnny Pimentel recently blamed the paramilitary
behind the attacks, but he disclosed that these groups were "monsters created
by the military" for its counterinsurgency campaign.

Pimentel said that no ragtag bandit can own several high-powered firearms that
cost P150,000 each without the help of the military.
Photo by Karlos Manlupig/Rappler

The military quickly denied any involvement in the attacks, and vowed to fully
support the ongoing investigations.

Colonel Isidro Purisima, commander of 402nd Infantry Brigade, said that the
persons identified with the Magahat-Bagani group are not even included in the
list of CAFGU Active Auxiliary (CAA) personnel.

“The AFP adheres to the Law of the land. As provided for in the Constitution to
wit: Providing for the Citizen Armed Force whose main function is to protect their
communities against any threat group that are disturbing the socio-economic
activities and the peaceful-living of our people. The CAA is the only legitimate
force being supervised by the AFP. Other armed groups shall be the subject of
Law Enforcement Operations conducted by the PNP," Purisima said.

“Your Army will continue its constitutional mandate of protecting the people and
securing the community and will never stop in our efforts in bringing peace in
these areas. We are calling everyone to stop violence and give peace a chance.”
the colonel added.

Pimentel dismissed the military's statement supporting an investigation. He said

that if the Armed Forces of the Philippines is sincere in its efforts to achieve
peace, then it should immediately disband and disarm all paramilitary groups and
spare all civilian communities from its counterinsurgency campaign.

Kalumaran said the military and paramilitary groups are probably annoyed that
tribal communities stand firm in their position not to allow mining and logging
companies to operate inside their ancestral land.

"These areas are the best spots to extract gold, nickel, and copper. And these
areas are also the remaining forests in Mindanao," Ogan said. – Rappler.com

http://www.rappler.com/nation/105847-timeline-attacks-lumad-mindanao