On the Issuance of Arrest Warrants against Six Administrators of the UCCP for Child Abuse

For years, Haran had come to mean hell-on-earth for our indigenous peoples.

Here was where they were taken after being manipulated to flee their homes in the mountains with lies of “militarization” foisted on them by the communist terrorist group, CPP NPA NDF. And once there, Haran shut the gates tight and our indigenous brothers and sisters could no longer leave if they wanted.

A one-way ticket to Hell served by the communist terrorist group (ctg).

Haran was where mortal fear was planted in their hearts and told that if they attempted the long journey back home, soldiers would be lying in wait to kill them.

Here was where they were told the lie that government cared nothing for them and that the only solution to the injustices they suffered was to take up arms and participate in the violent overthrow of government.

Here was where scores of them and their children—minors!-- became violent extremists, NPAs.

Haran became their holding place where they lived in subhuman conditions where hunger, thirst and disease became their daily companions. Where they didn’t have a decent roof over their heads, nor toilets to empty their bowels.

And when protests against government were needed to be peopled, Haran was where our indigenous peoples were jampacked in trucks and buses and carted off like cattle.

Haran was where, when indigenous children died, they were buried in the backyard like dogs—with no notification given City Hall.

Here was where some of our indigenous peoples committed suicide out of the despair that their lives had become.

Here was where high ranking party member of the CPP NPA NDF, Makabayan Bloc Representatives Carlos Zarate and France Castro fought tooth-and-nail government authorities to keep our indigenous peoples imprisoned in this hellhole.

Here in 2018 was where Makabayan Bloc Representatives Satur Ocampo and France Castro planned to take 14 Ata Manobo minors they had kidnapped after packing them inside a van—without the knowledge and consent of their parents—until they were caught by law enforcers and where they now stand trial.

Here was where Bayan Muna Representative Eufemia Cullamat took 19 minors and brought them to another holding area of the CPP NPA NDF, the University of San Carlos in Cebu City, WITHOUT THE CONSENT OF ANY OF THEIR PARENTS—and where, for close to three years, their parents searched in grief for children they had lost. An Ata-Manobo mother killed herself because she couldn’t live with the despair of never again seeing two of her children Cullamat had brought to Cebu WITHOUT HER KNOWLEDGE AND CONSENT.

Here was where the most atrocious, the most heinous of crimes were committed against our indigenous brothers and sisters: radicalization, recruitment, human trafficking, slavery, child abuse, kidnapping, terrorist financing.

Here was where photos of them were taken accompanied by outrageous lies about government printed in slick brochures that found its way in the United States and Europe with the express goal of raising funds in the billions.

And all these were aided, abetted, masterminded by wolves in sheep’s clothing—United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) Bishop Hamuel Tequis, Rev. Daniel Palicte, Ephraim Malazarte, Jong Monzon, Secretary-General of the CPP NPA NDF front, PASAKA-Southern Mindanao Region Chapter), Lindy Trenilla and Grace Avilla.

The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict therefore lauds the issuance of warrants of arrests against some of the worst tormentors and abusers of our indigenous brothers and sisters.

The long arm of the law is finally catching up with the terrorist organization and the biggest crime syndicate in our country, the CPP NPA NDF.

And although we know that the road to finally obtaining Justice is long, we are deeply grateful that the journey of a thousand steps has finally began and is gaining momentum.

A journey that moved forward with the filing of 39 cases against CPP NPA NDF operatives in Haran last year that was then followed by the landmark freeze-order by the Anti-Money Laundering Council of accounts of the UCCP this year.

This is a victory for our indigenous brothers and sisters.

This is a victory for the Filipino people who stand in full defense of our indigenous brothers and sisters.

This is a victory for Humanity.

Undersecretary Lorraine Marie T. Badoy

Spokesperson, NTF ELCAC