Senate condemns Teduray killings

A resolution condemning the killings of Teduray tribe leaders and members in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) has been filed in the Senate.

In Senate Resolution 1203, filed after the recent ambush of chieftain Elvin Moires, Senator Robinhood Padilla expressed concern over the “alarming” number of Teduray leaders and members killed.

“The rising number of killings within the Teduray tribe is alarming, with the latest count of defenseless individuals killed reaching 75,” said Padilla, chair of the Senate Committee on Cultural Communities and Muslim Affairs, in his resolution.

“It must be emphasized that injustice and violence have no place in any civilized society, and no just cause justifies brutalities against the lives of all persons,” he added.

Moires, shot dead by unidentified men while returning home from a tribal wedding ceremony, was known as a vocal leader of the Lumads in South Upi and an active advocate for indigenous people’s rights.

Padilla also pointed out that since 2018, Teduray and Teduray-Lambingan leaders have faced threats, intimidation, and killings for opposing land encroachment, displacement, and dispossession of their ancestral lands.

On 20 Dec. 2022, Jocelyn Palao, head of the ancestral domain division of the BARMM Ministry of Indigenous Peoples Affairs, was killed by gunmen after leaving her office in Cotabato City.

In April 2023, village councilman Juanito Promboy of Barangay Tuayan was ambushed by motorcycle-riding attackers on his way to Barangay Limpongo.

The Teduray tribe is one of the recognized Indigenous cultural communities in Maguindanao del Norte, Maguindanao del Sur, Sultan Kudarat, and the Bangsamoro region.