At least 500 Bagani and Alamara tribal leaders have signed an agreement to defend themselves from armed group that will harass them or make any attempt to take over their ancestral lands in Mindanao.
Top Alamara leader Datu Alim Bandara said his people will fight any armed group that wants to take away from them their ancestral domain lands using their traditional arm to drive away their invaders.
“We don’t want them [armed groups] in our place especially that the ‘lumads’ are now living peacefully and harmoniously,” said the tribal leader.
He disclosed that tribal leaders from North Cotabato, Bukidnon and Davao del Norte gathered in Barangay Kibia in Matalam, Cotabato will renew their vows as members of the Alamara and Bagani tribal group.
Apart from armed groups, Bandara said wealthy businessmen have been trying to illegally claim their lands.
He said that a total of 102 ancestral domains all over Mindanao have been penetrated by armed groups, including the New People’s Army.
He added that villages in the towns of Matalam, President Roxas, Arakan and Magpet in North Cotabato province, where the indigenous peoples’ own ancestral lands, are also being threatened by the presence of the NPA.
“The Alamara and Bagani leaders decided to sign a pact following the killings of some tribal leaders in Davao del Norte and Caraga region,” said Bandara.
He said that tribal leaders present during the covenant signified their intentions to fight armed groups in their respective areas.
However, Bandara clarified that they will not use firearms in their fight against armed groups.
“We don’t own guns but we will defend our territory using traditional arms blessed by our gods,” he said.
The tribal leaders ended the one-day gathering with the Pakkat’kalo, a tribal ceremony of blessing of all weapons used in farming and even in combat.