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Southern Tagalog Exposure and Tanggol Karapatan present
A Lullaby in the Cradle of War
Warm blood stain the narrow paths that we traverse
While tears abound, meandering down fragile stalks of palay
And the cry of those slain by the military
shatter the stillness of verdant countrysides
Mothers have ceased to sing lullabyes to lull their children to sleep
Fathers have no memory of sleeping without fear
The hungry stomach of farmers and
indigenous peoples of Southern Tagalog
are now riddled with bullets
Our small sanctuaries are no longer enough
against the dark and violent night
An oppressive state will never offer peace
A state that is blind, mute and deaf to the cries of the oppressed
will never serve justice
The Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo regime has only been iin power for two years,
yet an alarming number of cases of human rights violations
have already been documented by human rights advocates.
In the Southern Tagalog region, ther are 967 cases of human rights violations that have victimized 1,558 families (2,893 individuals). Such condition is due to intense militarization in the region.
26 combat battalions of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police are in the region.
This has forced peasants and national minorities in the countrysides to leave their communities and become internal refugees.
The reason why we are staying here at the shelter
is because the military is looking for us.
So now I am in deep fear. I really want to stay in our village,
I want to return there and raise my children there
but I can’t do it anymore to ensure the safety of my children.
We evacuate from Mindoro because of the military.
We are afraid of them.
Even those innocent are mauled and beaten up.
The military are doing this.
Innocent civilians were accused as NPAs.
I was punched four times and was beaten twice.
They even threatened us to blow up our village
that's why we evacuate and we are here now.
They even destroyed our houses,
stole our produce and they camped out in our village,
that‘s why we are here now.
When were are still in Mindoro,
I was one month away from giving birth
when the soldiers came to our village.
We don’t want our family to die
so we were forced to evacuate.
Our experience was very sad and traumatic.
They searched our houses
and pointed guns at my 12 years old and 9 years old children.
I was 2 months pregnant when we left Mindoro,
so when we arrived here in Manila, we transferred from one house to another.
What happened to us was very sad
but we accept this for the safety of our children
and our own safety.
I was 5 month pregnant when we arrived here from Mindoro.
I want to return to our village
but I'm thinking of my children, especially the eldest
because they accused him of being an NPA.
That's why I got afraid to return there
and just followed with my children
to evacuate and gave birth here.
We were here in Manila when I gave birth.
Even though I was brought to the hospital,
I never gave birth there,
so we returned here to give birth.
My son is one year old now.
It’s hard to think that we gave birth here
when we are supposed to give birth in our place.
In our custom, we don’t give birth here in the city...
but we want to save our lives.
Here at the shelter,
we can’t get bananas and fruits in the forest,
there are no fruits here, unlike in our village.
Many have changed here.
Before we go to school there
and we play with my cousin happily.
But he’s not here with us.
I also stopped schooling due to militarization.
What has changed in my life is that
no one is taking care of me unlike before.
I haven't gone to school since my parents were killed...
I already stopped schooling
What I missed so much is to be with my cousins and siblings.
Back in Mindoro, even without food
we have peace of mind and we raised our children,
but here, even though we eat rice, we are in misery.
There were really big changes here.
We don’t know what to work here
and where to get our food
since everything is being paid here in the city even the water.
That’s why our government should address this problem.
Tanggol Karapatan together with the internal refugees,
we file cases in various government agencies.
Until now, we don’t stop to seek for justice
for victims of human rights violations, their parents and relatives who got killed
and their hope to return to their communities and farms,
they don’t really want to leave their village.
On my part, I am hoping to return there
but for now, not yet because we are all afraid and traumatized.
For me, I want to return to our village
but then, if there are still soldiers there,
we can’t go back.
I’m afraid to get killed if there are still military in our place.
We have not lost hope to return to our village.
As long as we are alive, we hope we that we can go back home.
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