Subanens urge anti-terror law critics to reconsider stand

By Leah Agonoy

NO TO TERRORISM. Subanen tribal leaders hang streamers Saturday (Feb. 6, 2021) along the national highway in Gutalac, Zamboanga del Norte, to express support for the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020. They also called on critics of the law to look into the plight of the victims of abuses committed by the New People's Army and other lawless groups. (Photo by Leah D. Agonoy)

PAGADIAN CITY, Zamboanga del Sur – Subanen tribal leaders in Zamboanga del Norte have called on the critics of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 to look into the plight of the victims of harassment by the communist New People’s Army (NPA).

Timuay Jaypee Atong, tribal chieftain of Baliguian, Zamboanga del Norte, said Saturday their support to the anti-terror law is anchored on the need to be protected from extortionists and terrorists, such as the NPA rebels.

Atong accused the NPA of atrocities in their ancestral land.

“We are asking the help of the government to drive the (NPA) out; we cannot earn a living as long as they are there,” Atong said in the dialect, citing the NPA's constant harassment of tribespeople and its recruitment drive among the natives.

Timuay Osquito Asdae, chairman of the Gutalac- Baliguian-Siocon Ancestral Domain (GBS-AD) Fisherfolk Association, said their livelihood is affected by NPA atrocities.

“We wish to be protected against these groups,” Asdae said, as he called on the government to protect the IPs from the abuses of the NPAs and other lawless elements.

President Rodrigo Duterte recently signed into law Republic Act 11479 or the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020, a law that seeks to curb terrorism in the country. (PNA)