TINOC, Ifugao—A leader of the Kalanguya people opposing another dam project in the Cordilleras was shot dead by still unidentified assailants, the Ifugao Peasant Movement said in a statement released on Monday.
“IPM condemns the killing of peasant and indigenous people’s leader Ricardo Mayumi on March 2, 2018. Mayumi was fierce in his opposition to the Sta. Clara and Ayala’s Quadriver mini-hydro projects,” the statement read.
Mayumi has been active in several dialogues with the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and Reps. Teddy Baguilat, Nancy Cotamco and Reynaldo Umali concerning the projects aiming to tap the hydro-electric potentials of several rivers here. Abe Almirol
“Ten members of the IPM, including Mayumi, have received death threats using the picture of the ‘gamong’, the Ifugao burial blanket,” the statement said.
IPM alleged that “goons” hired by the project proponents are behind the threats.
Mayumi was with William Bugatti, the IPM’s human rights officer, when the later was gunned down in Bolog, Kiangan, Ifugao after a court hearing in March 2014.
“We join Ricardo’s family and friends and promise to continue the legacy [he] started by advancing the Ifugao people’s right to self-determination — to let the Ifugaos decide what kind of development will benefit them, and in the defense of land, life, and resources,” the statement concluded.