Long Distant Relative?

Typo Error. Ha! I thought we owned a trading center at San Franz, Surigao del Norte 
Oh well, here na us in Davao. Gonna meet up with our fellow interns based here and then Rejee and I shall be traveling back to CdeO. Let the good times roll! Yeah! \m/

Kiss you, no way!

Kissing my mortal fruit enemy! 

It's our second day at Anislagan, Surigao del Norte with my fellow LRC (Legal Rights Center) Interns and our head, Sir Cocoi. We have had a very busy day talking and learning much of the environmental issues and getting to know the direct parties to a pending case against Mining companies here. We have also toured vast farmlands, fisheries & nagtampisaw sa Tanke Falls. T'was totally FUN! For sure, when we go back home via road trip, I will definitely miss this place and perhaps this FRUIT? LOL! I just loved the idea of simple living here. Peaceful, healthy and happy. I wish to achieve that state of mind too, eventually.

Anislagan: A Visit to the Bleeding Mountains

ABRUPT. This is the very word I was looking for when I started to do my field report days after we came back to our respective residences. The entire experience at Anislagan was on a fast-paced momentum. I had to travel back to CDO since I was staying at Iligan due to the ever – ruckus election in the Philippines particularly in our hometown. My co-intern Rejee informed me that I shall be replacing our other co-intern, Choco, to travel en route to Anislagan since the latter had a fever. Thus, I travelled back to CDO and around 5am came to the LRC office to travel via road trip with Sir Cocoi, Rejee and DJ, a Digital Arts student of FEU. Amidst the stressful life of traveling to and fro, I, being an optimist, have always been thankful for this rare opportunity to travel, learn and be a part of a great cause all at the same time. This is what I have always adored, I wanted result-oriented experiences and so far, as a law student myself, I have learnt a lot because of LRC.

Aside from being abrupt, this experience I had en route to Anislagan made me studied Executive Order No. 79 in a few span of hours. This mandate originating from the Office of the President, E.O. 79, was for the very first time I have ever encountered it. Being able to permeate this to the commoners of Anislagan is heart-pounding enough to begin with because I might be surprised that they might know more of this mandate more than I do. I never really had a background on stuffs like these given that we do not have environmental law in our curriculum in the College of Law at MSU – Iligan. Still, I am thankful that Sir Cocoi and my co-intern were there to help out. Truly, it was one unforgettable experience. I have not only learnt from my self-study but I have also learned so much from the experiences of the people there and from my co-intern’s detailed discussion on the Rules of Procedure in Environmental Cases. That was totally enlightening on my part since like I’ve mentioned awhile ago, we haven’t had a subject that relates to that field.

For the following days, we were able to meet up with the direct parties of mining cases, such as that of the personal testimonies and confessions of Tatay Daniel Gonzales among others. We went to his farm and examined his fishpond, the one which he complained of where his fishes were on the verge of dying as he suspected that the mining operation from uphill was the main cause of it. The funny thing was when we tried to survey other parts of the place particularly that of Tanke Spring of which there were employees who were spying on us and taking pictures. At first, I thought they were just commoners from that place but when Sir Cocoi told us they were mere mining employees, the aura became quite scary. I knew all along that this entails a part of the journey we decided to take on but at this level, I began to feel a bit petrified. It became so overwhelming when we were on the way home via Buda en route to Davao then eventually to CDO.

While on the way, we had our lunch at Trento, Agusan del Sur & met up with Datu’s from the Manobo Agusanon tribe. Our conversation started from their plight towards land entitlement, SIPA, and then I discovered that one of the Datu’s had a fixed price on his head. Given that fact, I began to panic a little since people from politics and big mining companies wanted to bring him down. The things we discussed were quite informative especially when we were in awe to have heard that these Manobo’s really know what they were talking about in English language at that! It was so astonishing because they were totally fluent and were quite updated of certain changes of laws or mandates that will definitely benefit the entire tribe. All of these were spices to the entire journey we took and to have known that one of the Datu’s were on the hit list, totally made the trip more adventurous.

To have seen Sir Cocoi go about conversing with the Manobo’s and the people from Anislagan was such an inspiration. His job isn’t easy for his life is always on the line wherever he goes. I salute people like him for his tireless efforts in extending help to the unfortunate ones. I think that in movements like this, the objectives of the LRC organization were successfully met.  Us interns have learnt a lot & were convinced in one way or another to be engaged in alternative lawyering soon whether or not we become lawyers or just mere law advocates. For whatever its worth, the lessons we had acquired from different unknown territories we owe it all to LRC.

And as for our objective, as far as I am concerned, our purpose was met. Why E.O. 79 and the Rules of Procedure in Environmental Cases were created and how they can be of help to the community people in Anislagan have been duly imparted to them in our efforts to make them realize and understand the purpose of the existence of these mandates.

 

For me, I think, the next time the organization initiates another trip, it would be wise to bring along people from the army as an escort or someone who is skilled enough in shooting or of self-defense. Probably so it would be better too if Sir Cocoi and other members of LRC are trained with karate or anything that pertains to self defense.

Over-all, I felt the essence of what alternative lawyering really is all because of LRC and Samdhana. Although I am a bit freaked out when it comes to security issues, but I still plan on connecting with LRC every summer as a volunteer that is if Sir Cocoi would approve of such request. I would love to learn so much more from Sir Cocoi, Ma’am Joan and the others. All along I have always wanted my summer to be engaged for a cause and thank God He blessed me with this opportunity and for that I am happy. Perhaps soon, I shall set my bare feet back in Anislagan and visit the bleeding mountain which will no longer bleed to death but be filled with luscious greens, be well defended and conserved not just the place but the people themselves.

The questions thrown at us during the discussions we had at Anislagan were a challenge to us law advocates because based on that discourse, there are still loopholes in our laws that needs to be reviewed. Therefore, it has been my task as well to delve into these deeper as I now begin to take interest in issues like these.

Bayanga: Dawn of Women Empowerment

In our second time to venture into another place, Sir Cocoi introduced to us another prominent member of the LRC family, in the person of Sir Erwin. Other than that, we, together with some other interns fromo Kaisahan and Balaod Mindanaw were also gathered on that day to meet other representatives from different NGO’s in the country, in fact I have also met the sister of my classmate at law school, she was Ate Neneng, one of the outspoken representatives from the Commission on Human Rights here in Mindanao.

Again, heading on to another place made me giddy up as I would not know what might happen next that makes it all the more exciting. Well, the thing that made me really curious was that moment when IP women from different tribes in Mindanao were gathered at the Samdhana rest house on the second day. I wanted to delve deeper into their thoughts and to witness a ritual they often do as a prayer to seek guidance from the creator in order to make any actions that shall favour the entire tribe in the long run. I am glad that in a secluded place like the ones where they hail from, IP women too have been empowered which makes me very proud as a woman myself.

Given the cozy place for staying overnight, the pleasant accommodation and thorough discussion on AMMB and the MILF framework from effective speakers, I believe the objective of the ALG in trying to educate, inform, update and amalgamate data to solve certain issues amongst our marginalized brothers and sisters of the Indigenous People have been met. The views we had absorbed when we had our first exposure in Cantilan were correlated to that of the issues that the IP’s in CDO have been facing for all these years.

 To have seen that only women have been sent as representatives from each of the tribes goes to show that they too, are empowered as do women in the urban world. It amazes me how firm their beliefs are and how willing they are to fight for what is rightfully theirs. It even shook me to the bones upon hearing their personal stories of their encounters of men with guns and goons. You can see their struggle for acquiring their own lands that they shed blood and lost their loved ones all for the sake of their so-called “ancestral domain”.

These melees were all apparent on how teary-eyed they become when they started to share their untold stories or show the scars left in their bodies as a sign of a bloody bout. I am amazed how they remain tireless for years and years of fighting for their rights despite being denied or perhaps given minute opportunity to be heard regarding their plea.

Thus, I believe the importance of sharing to them our knowledge on AMMB, to protect and help them for their cause is really a precious thing for all of them. I might conclude that some of them have already given up the fight but I realized that Alternative Lawyering Groups such as LRC totally plays a big role in their lives and for me, the team have become their motivation and they to us are our motivation as interns to do best in our studies and help them out soon as administrators of justice in this country.

As always, every activity the LRC initiates, we the interns have always something new to learn about. Just like the previous AMMB consultation we had at Cantilan, I think the process of the discussion brought out in just a span of one or two days isn’t even enough to cover the entire subject. Still, I am rest assured that for the continued enlightenment of LRC & Samdhana towards these aggrieved stakeholders would be a better move to let them be edified of the laws that will help them protect themselves, their families and the future generations to come.

The way the main discussants used the local dialect to expound further the topic on AMMB and the MILF Framework is a stepping stone to make these direct stakeholders feel secured and able to grasp ideas that will help them in their struggle. Having done that, not only will the women be the ones that are empowered but the entire tribe will stand up and justify what is rightfully theirs from the very beginning.

 

Beyond words, these women, their cause and their mundane struggles have made my will stronger for me to focus in my quest to become a lawyer myself. Hopefully, if things work out well, if luck & determination favours a person like me, I will soon come back to LRC and render my services as an alternative lawyer per se.