Youth leaders debunk communist support to IPs

CLARK FREEPORT— Eleven Mindanao Indigenous People (IP) youth leaders debunked Friday, October 18, the alleged support of the Communist Party of the PhilippinesNew People’s Army (CPP-NPA) to their tribes.

“Nandito po kami para sabihin kung ano ang tunay na nangyayari sa Mindanao. Dahil po part sa aming kultura na kung saan po dinadala ang pangalan namin na hindi maganda, yung sinisiraan kailangan naming puntahan at ayusin. Kultura po namin yun. Kaya po kami pumunta ng Amerika, Europa dahil po sa mga naririnig naming mga balita na yung Martial Law nakaapekto sa mga IPs sa Mindanao which is hindi naman totoo yun. Yung sinusunog daw ng mga sundalo yung mga eskwelahan. Pero kung tatanungin po niyo yung mga totoong nandoon, yung mga doon nakatira wala naman silang nakitang ganoong nangyayari. In fact, yung mga CPP-NPA yung mga nagsusunog ng mga paaralan at nagbobomba ng mga sundalo na nagpapatrolya, (We are here to tell you what is really happening in Mindanao as it is part of our culture that whenever our tribe is dragged on a bad light, we need to go and fix it. That is the reason we went to the United States, Europe because of the news we hear that Martial Law affected the IPs in Mindanao which is not true. That soldiers allegedly burn schools. But if you ask those who are really there, those did not happen. In fact, it is the CPP-NPA who burn schools and bomb patrolling soldiers,” Bae Anna Jessa Mae Crisostomo of the Ubo Manobo tribe said during the Ugnayang Pangkapayapaan,