When Fireflies Become Torches for Justice

(The Justice for Lacub campaign)

Men, women and children of the Mabaka, Adasen and Binongan tribes of Lacub, Abra
wear their clothes everyday like the color of their skin - reflective of their courage. The
families of those who have lost their loved ones in their territory because of the civil war
and in the service of the people, reflect this courage as equal as they have been doing
during the most difficult times - lighting the darkest of nights.
In the ancestral domain of the Tingguian people, martyrs have laid down their lives in
building a just society their own sons and daughters, those who they have claimed as
their own.
The massive military operations in Lacub took place in August and September and
brought into clearer light the reality of the civil war in the country. This is the civil war
between two governments in our country that concretizes the contradictions of classes in
our society over the management of resources, how to address the needs of the people,
whose interests prevail and what government shall have to be in place. In this war,
human rights and dignity enshrined in human rights laws and declarations, international
humanitarian laws and agreements have been gravely violated by the Philippine
government through the Armed Forces of the Philippines. In Lacub, Abra last September
4, it was through the 41st Infantry Battalion under the 5th Infantry Division. Two civilians
became victims of extrajudicial killing Lacub resident, Noel Viste and development
worker, Engineer Fidela Salvador. Twenty four civilians were used as human shields.
One farmer was illegally arrested and detained. Civilian houses were fired at by AFP
troops. The safety of children and the whole community was endangered by their
encampments within school and residential areas. Seven members of the New Peoples
Army Arnold Jaramillo, Recca Noelle Monte, Brandon Magranga, Robert Beyao,
Roberto Perez, Ricardo Reyes and Pedring Banggao were tortured, willfully killed and
their remains, desecrated.
In the darkest of these nights, as the people were gathering the dead, mourning and
burying the martyrs, the people called out for justice. A call like the tolling of bells
which resounds until now and will resound until justice is delivered.
The people of Lacub, despite heavy militarization and the threat against the security and
lives of leaders of TULBEK1, hosted a fact finding mission and a national solidarity
mission. These activities, not only became a venue for the truth to be accounted on the

1

TULBEK - TIMPUYOG TI UMILI ITI LACUB BANTAYAN EKOLOHIYA KEN KINABAKNANG

(Lacub Peoples Alliance to Safeguard Ecology and Resources)

incidents of violations. These also became strong political statements that the people will
weather the storm of State fascism to assert their human rights and dignity. They
continue to fight against development aggression in their community especially mining.
They continue to assert for the pull-out of the Armed Forces of the Philippines from their
ancestral land.
The families have been strong as they stand in the forefront of the peoples collective
quest for justice. They have braved the pains of narrating the story of their loss. They
continuously pass on the light of their torches with their messages that beam of hope for a
just society. Cases have been filed at the Commission of Human Rights, Department of
Justice, the Joint Monitoring Committee of the Government of the Philippines and the
National Democratic Front of the Philippines as well as with UN Special Rapporteur for
Indigenous Peoples Rights. The Human Rights Committee at the House of
Representatives has started the investigation of the incident last May 26, 2015 after a
House Resolution urging for the investigation of the incident and calling for the
resumption of peace talks was signed by Congress representatives, and after the privilege
speeches of Congress Representatives Kit Belmonte and Luz Ilagan. The case was
brought to the International Peoples Tribunal in Washington, DC, where BS Aquino III
and the US government were tried and found guilty of violations of gross and systematic
violations of civil and political rights, economic social and cultural rights and of the
rights of the Filipino people to national self-determination and liberation.
The response to all of these continues to mold a strong testament of the peoples
aspiration for peace and justice.
Droves of people courageously came to the wakes to pay their respect for those who were
slain. Marches and protest actions have been done and will continue. Education on the
civil war, human rights and international humanitarian law has become more open.
In Abra, fireflies gather around trees and shrubs and fields before and after the rain or
storms. In the aftermath of what the Lacub incident in September, the flickers of light
have become torches of justice not just in Tingguian territory, but in the whole Cordillera
region. The light has spread through all places moved by the people of Lacub, those who
have been martyred and their families. The work for genuine justice and peace will be a
continuing tribute.
Death has no dominion, the people release you from its shackles and hold you in being
in their hearts.2#

In Memoriam, by Jason Montana