The mountainous areas of Surigao Del Sur in Mindanao are rich in many natural resources.  Logging, marine resources, and some of the largest deposits of nickel, gold, and iron are found in its hills.  It is home to Lumad (collective name for indigenous peoples in MIndanao) communities in the Andap Valley spanning seven municipalities.  Beginning May 2005, AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) military units have occupied these communities claiming their operations were aimed towards “developing the Andap Valley to benefit the Lumad.”  

Meanwhile, the military forced the closure of schools, prohibited the passage of food, and threatened community members; accusing them of belonging to and supporting rebel groups, using them as civilian shields, forcing recruitment into paramilitary groups, and imposing the possibility of death to those reluctant to cooperate.

The Lumad's had evacuated the communities twice already, once in 2005 and again in 2007.  In early 2009, the military again came to the community forcing the people to leave but the military did not stay long and followed them to the town center.  So they returned only after 3 days of evacuation.

On June 18, 2009,  unable to achieve a peaceful compromise with the military forces, fearful of getting caught in the middle of crossfire,  and as tensions and hardships increased, approximately 295 families from left to evacuate and the other families from nearby communities followed exactly a month after.  A total of 303 families (1,795 individuals) from 15 communities evacuated to the Lianga Municipal Gym 16 kilometers away, among them were 316 women and over 900 children.

Away from the trouble in their communities, displaced for two months, these evacuees faced new problems.  Insufficient food supply and deteriorating conditions of potable water, deteriorating sanitary conditions, vulnerability to infectious disease, especially among children, and an increase in covert and overt military presence monitoring the evacuation centre.  

On August 28th 2009, the National Solidarity Mission, a group of 21 Manila based delegates representing several organizations made the trip to Surigao Del Sur and joined delegations hailing from various parts of Mindanao.  Under the banner of TASK FORCE SURIGAO, the total delegation of 170 members, formed in Tandag where the evacuees had been transferred to offer moral and material support.  The most important objective was the safe return of the evacuees back to their communities, answering their call to reclaim their lives and ancestral land.

Fortunately, the delegation learned at the orientation that aside from a few check points and detachments, AFP forces had pulled out, perhaps spurned by the sudden national attention their occupation had garnered.  This meant a slight change in objective for the mission.  Delegates were asked to focus their attention on documenting the state of the abandoned communities and fact-finding with a focus on human rights violations.  The most important task became escorting the Lumads back to their communities and insuring that military operations had indeed ceased.

On August 29th, the delegates were mixed and split into two groups.  One group was to go to Barangay Pantukan, in the neighboring town of Carascal.

Upon arrival at Pantukan, the delegation found the local Dep Ed school closed, with desks and chairs upturned in the classrooms.  The town was empty of people except for a few who had returned early.  Some residents had returned in order to attend a program by TASK FORCE SURIGAO at the school gym.  

As delegates fanned the area, shooting photos and interviewing residents, some members noticed that unidentified men had been shooting photos of the delegation.  Later, during the program, two men in plain clothes entered the vicinity and were identified by residents as military officers.  There was also activity in a forested space not far from the school, where a detachment once stood.  

At the end of the program, the residents of Pantukan were given the option to stay, but instead they boarded the dump truck bound back for the evacuation centre in Tandag.  The soldiers were still there.

The other group of delegates remained in Tandag and attended to the evacuees at the nearby evacuation centre.

After two months of displacement, the conditions of the evacuation centre were bleak and the evacuees were eager to go home.  There was no space allotted or programs in place for children to continue their classes during the displacement.  Many exhibited sores or had fell ill.   With over 1,700 people taking temporary residence, the centre was congested with few places to wash or go to the toilet.  Many families had been over-stretching rations of food and had run out of healthy options.

The morning of the 30th, evacuees got set to leave Tandag, back to their respective communities.  About 15-20 dump trucks lined the highway as the Lumads piled their belongings and themselves into the backs and on top of the driving cabs.  Even in the morning, the sun was relentless.  Many shielded themselves with bits of cardboard, umbrellas, shirts, or simply put up with it.  The bumpy commute to Diatagon in the valley was near to 5 hours.

Children didn't waste anytime making themselves at home after finally arriving.  Many jumped out of the trucks and ran straight for the waterfalls to swim or climbed the first tree in sight.   There were lots of smiling faces, with everybody glad to be back home.

Homes in the area around Han-ayan, where the ALCADEV (Alternative Learning Centre for Agricultural and Livelihood Development) and TRIPFS (Tribal Filipino Program of Surigao Del Sur) schools stand, still showed signs of a military presence.  Cheap graffiti were on the walls, house wares were missing, and sari-sari stores were ransacked.  Vegetable crops were stolen and what was left had rotted as they were ripe for harvest over a month earlier.

In the hills surrounding the community, abandoned military detachments were found.  Abandoned shelters, makeshift washing areas and benches with views of the community remained.  

On August 31, delegates were given the opportunity to assist the residents with the harvest of their remaining crops.  

The final day in the community was bittersweet.  Throughout the weekend delegates and community members had formed a bond through cooperation and shared conviction.  The students of ALCADEV had prepared a program of songs they had wrote and performed them as the delegation waited for their dump truck to pick them up to leave.  

Delegates were sad to leave such a beautiful place and hoped that when they returned it would be for a visit and not on a mission.  Some feared that the military will return in an effort to tire the people out until they evacuate for good.

The people of the communities in the Andap Valley live on rich and bountiful land.  They were able to tame that land to provide for themselves.  They have put up their own schools and systems of government.  Aside from the frequent occupation of the AFP, they have managed to live peaceful lives.  It is of desperate importance that their right to land and way of life are preserved.

(This article was written by Manny Veneracion, a Fil-Canadian who's doing some volunteer work for SALINLAHI)