AFP and fake Lumad groups exploit students

The video from Mocha Uson Blog where two former Salupongan students alleged they were taught to carry firearms and rebel against the government is a blatant lie to vilify and destroy the good aim of the Salugpongan Community Learning Center.

The only true fact in that video was that Asinad Bago and Manuel Salangani are our former students. But what they spoke on video was nothing but a scripted lie, given that they are now paramilitary members, they are being used by the AFP to discredit and destroy Lumad schools as part of the military’s counterinsurgency and redbaiting campaign.

For the record, Asinad Bago was our student starting in 2009 as a grade 1 student of the Dulyan, Palma Gil, Talaingod campus at age 11. We remember him trekking the Talomo River in Talaingod just to get to school. The PTCA took note of the risks he made crossing the river every day and provided a lodging house under the guidance of the teachers. He even became one of the scholars of the late Fr. Fausto ‘Pops’ Tentorio from 2009-2011. The scholarship continued even after Fr. Pops’ death.

After four years in Salugpongan, Asinad, at age 15 and in grade 4, expressed he could not continue his studies as he contemplated to help his father to provide for his family. He quit school and worked as a motorcycle driver in Sto. Niño, Talaingod.

A year later in 2014, the Salupongan elders informed the school that Asinad and his father Gorio were recruited to the paramiltay group Alamara under the 68th Infantry Batallion.

Manuel Salangani was our former junior high school student in Nasilaban, Palma Gil. Despite knowing his relatives are paramilitary members, the school accepted his request to be enrolled and provided him scholarship. He later dropped out and joined the paramilitary in 2014, the same year with Asinad.

From that point on, Asinad and Manuel had been appearing on videos and gatherings speaking out against the school. They alleged they were taught to join protests, to sing a protest national anthem, and to dismantle and shoot firearms.

It is sad that the likes of Asinad and Manuel are victims twice over. First, they are denied basic social services by the government, as evidenced by the lack of public schools and public health centers. Second, they are being exploited by the AFP as their propaganda machinery.

Their allegations that we are a school recruiting rebels is a recycled propaganda. For the record, Salugpongan Community Learning Center is an educational institution, which is registered and partner of the Indigenous Peoples’ Education Office (IPEd) with the mandate to provide education to the indigenous peoples. We commit to this service, by providing free education to the most remote village in Southern Mindanao.

What part of our teaching commitment is deemed subversive? It seems the agenda of the AFP and the paramilitary Alamara is to make the Lumad and the public remain ignorant and blind to the needs of the indigenous peoples.

But given that Mocha Uson and the military have been discredited for peddling fake news, we urge the public to look closer to the facts.

We are not terrorists, but educators. The Lumad have their dreams, and there are a few who have committed to nurture them. Let us stand for these dreams and reject the lies that deprive them of such.

We are not terrorists, but educators. The Lumad have their dreams, and there are a few who have committed to nurture them. Let us stand for these dreams and reject the lies that deprive them of such. Meggie Nolasco Executive Director of Salugpongan Community Learning Center