DAVAO CITY —The Indigenous Peoples (IP) in Mindanao lamented the continued killings of their members by communist guerillas, often in the hands of their own tribesmen who have joined the New People’s Army (NPA).

Maj. Ezra Balagtey, Eastern Mindanao Command (Eastmincom) spokesman, on Tuesday said the NPA has already killed six IP members in recent weeks within the Eastmincom area.

Eastmincom covers the Caraga region, Davao, Bukidnon and Cagayan in Region 10, Cotabato, Makilala, South Cotabato, Colombio and Sultan Kudarat in the Socksargen area.

Balagtey said the NPA’s continued atrocities against tribal communities is clear in the minds of the Lumads and has prompted several tribal groups to gather in Davao City to seek government protection in February this year. Others, he said, have sought refuge in Army camps.

IP, he said, are killed for varying reasons, often for refusal to support the communist movement, or even on suspicion of being government informants. The rebels, he said, are also known to “extort” whatever little food the IP have in their already impoverished communities.

Tribal Chieftain Eusebio Meniano of Barangay Hinapuyan, Carmen, Surigao del Sur, considers himself more lucky than other kalumonan (kin) who suffer under the NPA.

Meniano was forcibly dragged out of his home on 24 July 24 this year and was only released by the NPA when the local government offered the rebels food in exchange for the tribal leader’s freedom.

Eastmincom reported that the negotiation came after a pursuit operation was undertaken by the Army’s 36th Infantry Battalion to rescue the abducted tribal leader.

Lt. Gen. Benjamin Madrigal Jr., Eastmincom commander said the incident “confirms the revelation of former rebels who surrendered before that the NPA rebels are experiencing hardship, where they have no food to eat and that they are always running to evade pursuing troops.”

The NPA atrocities on IP groups this year, the military said, include the killing of the tribal leader of the Langilang-Manobo tribe and his son, who were shot dead by the NPA inside their home in Barangay Palma Gil, Talaingod, Davao del Norte in February.

The victims, Datu Banadjao Mampaundag and his son, Jhonard Mampaundag, were attacked in their home by armed men posing as soldiers but were in fact members of the NPA.

The incident prompted the tribal leader of the Ata-Manobo tribe Datu Lumansad Sibogan of Talaingod, Davao del Norte, to declare a “pangayaw” or tribal war against the NPA.

Sibogan, presiding officer of the Council of Elders of the Ata-Manobo Tribe in Talaingod, said it was high time for tribesmen who are NPA members to stop killing their own relatives.

In April, Councilor Antonio Takinan, 50, the Indigenous Peoples Mandatory Representative to the Magpet town council, was ambushed by six suspected members of the New People’s Army in Barangay Tagbac.