MAN[.A,.

PHlLtpptNES I THURSDAY 5 OCTOBER 2019

NPA incubators get Sara's ire

SARA gives
By llananeel Bordey of tndiger.o8 Inmnd tribesmen
Bayan l\4una
to learn. solon a

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words against Bayan Muna
In a text message sent to
reporters, Mayor Duterte told
Cullamat to resign from her
piece oi her
mind.

Rep. Eufemia Cullamat House of Represe[tati1€s- post

who protested the city before launching an attack on
government's order to the govemment.
close Salugpungan schools She explained
that are being used to mold DavaoCif and
hardcore communist rebels. the national
Cullamat assailed the government
. padlocking of the schools as reach out to
having an effect on the initiative furn tu pago Ao

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 NPA incubators get Sara's ire
Mayor Duterte told Cullamat to resign from her House of Representatives post before launching an
attack on the government
Frcn, pagp I seriously, then she should have'some respect
students who are members of various
indigenous people (IP) groups, including
ihose who study in Salugpungan schools.
Such instituti0ns are assisted by various
organizations that President Roddgo Duterte
had linked to the New People's Army (NPA).
"Cullamat should resign first from
Congress before she attacks the DepDd
(Department of Education), AFP (Armed
Forces of the Philippines) and govemment
in general. The government pays for her
office. The same govemment tha1 has helped
hundreds if nqt. thousands of IP students
c0mpared to thre NPA schools they call
Salugpungan.o she noted.
The Davao City executive called for
l,he immediate closure of 11 Salugpungan
Ta' Tanu Igkanugon Community Learning
Center Inc. (STICLCI)-run schools in the
,4ty, accusing its backers of "deceptive acts
and practices.'
Mayor Duterte cited the 19 March 2019
City Peace and 0rder Council (CPOC)
resohition asking the DepEd to terminate
Salugpungan's permit to operate.
The CPOC resolution cited the local
government's findings that include the
persistent problem of S alugpungan
students not having academic records and
individual learner's reference numbers.
The findings als0 noled the presence
of DepDd schools in areas where such
inslituli0ns operate, negating its purpose
of supposedly providing education where
the state is not present.
"If she wanted the people to take her
for herself. Apart from being a mouthpiece
and defender of the Communist Pariy of
the Philipplnes-NPA-National Democratic
Flont of the Philippines, she is a big empw
space, And for the r€cord, the AIP works for
rne. They only do as much as I allow them
because civilian authority is supreme over the
military. She should be ashamed of herself
as she does not even read the Philippine
Constitution,' the Davao City officia.l averred.
0n Tuesday, Cullamat, who comes from
the Manobo tribe, teleased a statbment
responding to Dutrerte's statement on the
closure of the Salugpungan schools, calling
it to be all lies and an insult. /
nMayor Sara's statement, which is just
deception and lies ab ofi the hnnnd schoolsl
is a big mockery to the initiaiives of my
fellow I mnds to *\dy amid discrimination,
poverty and ceaseless militarization against
our communities,' Cullamat had declared.
Permits canceled
uThis is an insult to our efforts to address
the shortcomings 0f the governtnent to
provide us education and to other children
of public services," she added.
Last Monday, the Davao City government
submitted a resolution to DepEd passed
on 19 March 2019 requesting the agency to
terminate and cancel the permits to operate
of in their area.
11 Salugpungan schools
Mayor Duterte cited the testimony of
a former student who claimed that these
schools are
nteaching students how to use
firearms, apart from them being indoctrinated
with anti-government propaganda.'
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"Ii is clearly another form
of abuse and oppression of
Lunnd, chilfuen by a group that
feigns being its protectors and
defenders. A 'bakuit' school,
President Duterte's daughter said just like Salugpungan schools,
Salugpungan sqhools did not $Ye justice to is useless because it is not and
the dreams of Lu.mnd students who ioined it will never be recognized by
the organization with the hope 0f getting DepEd," she added.
assistance to "better their chances in the
The local chief executive also
future,' emphasized that the schools are
"another ploy to soticit pity and
money from ihe public, while
The govemment prys for her office. adYancing their propaganda
The sa.me gwenunert that has helPed against the govemment."
hundreds if not thousands of IP
studerts compared to tfte l[PA school
they call Sa]Wpunglan.
'The city government conducted due
diligence in inquiring into l,he activities of
Salugpungan schools before coming up with a
City Peace and 0rder Council resolution. The
decision was based on facts, not on a whim
or rumors as critics and anti-govemment
forces want the public to believe,' she said
Dubious backers
Moreov€r, the mayor also slammed the
Save Our Schools (S0S) network for their
acti0ns "to shametessly lick its wound
publicly over the closure of Salugpungan
schools.'
She claimed that the organization even
hosted a concert in Manila for the benelit
of "bakwdt schools' or schools for evacuees.
uBut students of bakui't schools are
Iumnd, chil en who were broughi by SOS
Network from their communities and forcibly
brought to the cities, away from their homes
to be used as poster boys and girls in l
their anti"government agenda,o Duterte
said.