Before we reached Kahusayan in Northern Davao, we passed by a sign that said “Prayer Mountain” – the name of a resort built by Apollo Quiloboy.  Quiloboy is pastor of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ and is also a self-proclaimed "son of God” with a surprisingly large following here in the Philippines as well as in North America.  

His plans for “Prayer Mountain” are to build a tourist resort and to expand his pine tree plantations through land grabbing in Kahusayan, a community of the Obo-Klata tribe.  As we approached Kahusayan, there was a blue fence surrounding a vast area of land where one of the communities once lived.  However, the community was driven out by the Task Force of the military through threats, intimidation and violence.  They would go to people’s houses in the middle of the night and tell them “this is how much we are paying you for your land, and you will be gone by morning whether you like it or not.”  When the community evacuated the area, the fence was put up by Quiloboy even though he doesn’t have proper land title.

When the Task Force approached the tribal leader of Kahusayan, Datu Doming Diarog, and told him “this is our land and you are going to leave, whether you like it or not,” Datu Doming refused to leave and encouraged his community to do the same.  On April 29^th, 2008, Datu Doming was murdered in his sleep.  When I was in Kahusayan, I met his wife Emily, along with several of his children, who shared with me the details of that night as well as the threats that they had received leading up to his death. 

The military harassment and violence in the community started in the mid-90s.  Datu Doming was always firm in his position to keep his land because according to Emily, his worry was “where is our next generation going to live?” Nearby communities had already been forced to relocate or driven out completely.  In the 2 months leading up to Datu Doming’s death, his family had been intensely harassed by the military and had their house burned down 4 times.

On April 29^th at around 10 PM, one of their children heard 2 stones being thrown at the house.  This was followed by 2 gunshots.  The child ran outside and saw three people with their faces masked and dressed all in black, each holding an M-14 rifle.  The family was sleeping in 2 rooms of the house, with Datu Doming sleeping closest to the wall in the main room.  Shots were fired all around the house and eventually killing Datu Doming and wounding Emily and two of their daughters. 

At first, Emily had no idea who wanted to kill her and her family.  But after some time had passed she believes now that her husband was killed because he refused to give up his land, and he was a strong example for the community.  When her husband passed away, Quiloboy had acquired their land without the right papers nor paying Emily for what it was worth.  Her family lost their farmland, which served as their main source of livelihood, she had no food to feed her children.  Emily was forced to find work, and eventually did at the banana plantation where she still works earning P150 a day (around $3.50 a day) to support her 10 children.  She and her children suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, and the sight of the military makes them cry.  The entire community in Kahusayan is also traumatized and scared, and in fact when the children are terrified when they hear helicopters because they think it is the military coming after them. 

When I asked Emily what she would like to see happen, she said that she wanted justice for her husband’s death.  As of now, the case against Quiloboy has been dropped due to lack of evidence.  As a way to remember the death of Datu Doming and to bring the community to continue resisting the land grabbing, the people’s organizations mobilize every year at city hall as well as outside Quiloboy’s church (which are coincidentally very close to one another).  

Bullet marks around the house

Gunshot injuries sustained by Datu Doming’s daughters

Pictures of their house from each of the 4 times that it was burned down

Marks from the fire remain on their roof

Emily was still light-hearted enough to share a laugh with me after asking if I was still single!

The Community-Based Health Services Association (CBHSA) of Mindanao invited me to attend their Community Health Worker (CHW) training in Kahusayan, which is an indigenous community about 2 hours away from Davao.  There are 3 levels of training for the CHWs, last year they did Level 1 which covered basic health orientation, vital signs, medical ethics, nutrition, sanitation, personal hygiene, first aid, herbal medicine, mental health.  There were 15 participants in last year’s training, and this year for Level 2 there were 11 participants who came back.  The topics covered in Level 2 are basic anatomy, pharmacology, nursing skills, common diseases, and medical history.  In Level 3, participants learn more advanced skills including minor surgery and acupressure.  

The training took place over 3 days, and on the last day the participants participated in a medical mission (which I unfortunately couldn’t attend).  The training is open to anyone in the community who is interested in health, but they need to be able to read and write, be a resident of the community and in good standing, have aptitude for medical work, and have a commitment to serve the people.  

Gerlito’s adorable daughter

Community health workers are tough!

Yes, this is a giant karaoke machine in the mountains.  Anywhere that humans can reach in the Philippines, so can a karaoke machine.

Dimple, our videoke superstar :)

Our host bringing us fresh vegetables from her farm for our lunch

Unwinding after a day of training

Teaching basic stretches

Dr. Lynn Redoble going over basic anatomy

The participants

When I arrived in Mindanao, I participated in a medical mission along with 45 other participants in Talaingod, municipality north of Davao city.  8 of us were from US, Canada and Netherlands, and the rest were health workers and organizers from the Philippines.  The community we visited was Duliyan (named after the fruit durian!), and is made up of the Ata-Manobo tribe.  

Our motorcycle ride up the mountain in Talaingod

Flat tire on our way up the mountain

Sitio Duliyan

Leaders of the community jamming 

History of Resistance in Talaingod (thanks to Lala!)

Between the 1970s and 1992, there was a massive deforestation in Talaingod by foreign logging companies.  The impact was so profound and devastating to the indigenous communities, so they began to resist the logging companies around 1992.   However, the logging companies responded with intense military harrassment to the point where most of the women and children in Talaingod had to evacuate for their safety.  The men remained in their community to fight for their land and relied on traditional weapons – bow and arrow, and spear.  The tribes in this region had traditionally declared war on each other, but the situation with the logging companies along with the intense militarization raised the consciousness of the tribes such that they realized that they should not be declaring war with each other, but rather a class war against those who uprooted them from their land. The logging companies filed a case against 10 of the tribal leaders in Talaingod for murder and arson, and are currently wanted by the government.  The local tribes became organized through the local formation of Salupongan Ta'Tanu Igkanugon – Unity in the Defense of Ancestral lands, and eventually PASAKA – Unity, a regional formation of 9 major ethnolinguistic tribes in the Southern Mindanao Region.  The member tribes of PASAKA are united in the struggle for the defense of their ancestral lands as well as for self-determination.  

During the evacuation of Talaingod, many of them stayed at the United Christian Church of the Philippines (UCCP).  When I was at UCCP Haran I saw the tree that they marked to remember the plight of the Ata-Manobo tribe.  

The Medical Mission

The medical mission was sponsored by the Filipino-American Health Workers Association in California.   We provided medical check-ups, dental services, minor surgery and psychosocial therapy for children. As part of the medical team, we registered 235 patients.  Some of the common health problems were diarrhea, tuberculosis, pneumonia, bacterial conjunctivitis, and gastrointestinal infections and almost everyone we saw was underweight. 

The dental team performed tooth extractions on 38 patients, and minor surgery (mainly circumcision) was done on 27 patients.  There were 197 children who participated in the psychosocial therapy activity, which was much more than was anticipated.  The children shared their fears and worries, which were mainly around the military situation and starvation.

 Current issues in the community

Rat infestation and hunger

In August 2010 the community began to experience a massive rat infestation which affected all their crops.  As a farming community the impact of the rat infestation was absolutely devastating.  The problem still hasn’t resolved, and people have been hungry for a long time – people would eat maybe once a week, and many of the children had to drop out of school because they had to help their parents look for food.  

Where did a rat infestation of this scale come from?  According to biologist Richard Levins, rodent populations proliferate following major historical and ecological changes:

…rodents surive by eating seeds and grasses.  When a forest is cleared and grain is planted, we also eliminate the coyotes, jaguars, snakes and owls that eat rodents.  The net result is an increase in rodent food and a reduction in rodent mortality.  The rodent population grows.  Now these disease-deliverers are social animals.  (from “Is Capitalism a Disease? The Crisis in US Public Health.” )

To me this seems like the most likely explanation for what happened in Talaingod.  The first major ecological change occurred when the logging companies began deforestation around the mountains in the 1970s.  The second major ecological change was the development of a massive banana plantation along the highway to Talaingod.   I learned that these banana fields used to be rice fields about 20 years ago.  

Banana plantations on the way to Talaingod

Hungry child in the community

Distributing rice to the children in the community who waited in the pouring rain.

Bags of rice for the kids

Ongoing military attacks 

Last year, the military cut the hose supplying water to the school and much of the community, which they had done several times in the past. It is not the first time that the school has been under attack, as it has been labeled a “fake” school and a school for the New People’s Army even though it is officially recognized by the Department of Education.    

The water supply for the school and the community

Progress and hope

Salugpongan Ta'Tanu Igkanogon Learning Center

When the Community-Based Health Services Association (CBHSA) of Mindanao conducted a community diagnosis in Talaingod and engaged with the tribal leaders and community, they found that 97% of the population was illiterate, and that literacy was important in their struggle to protect their land and for self-determination.  As a result, a learning center was built by the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines and the Urban Integrated Health Services.  Datu Genome said that the leaders were very happy with the school because “we wanted our children to experience our aspirations, and our aspiration is for our own development” and were overwhelmed when the teachers approached their community offering their service.  The teachers of this school receive a small allowance, but have also suffered from starvation with the community and would eat maybe once a week.  Overall, the school has had a tremendously positive impact on the children and community, many of whom shared that even though they were starving, they still wanted to go school.  Some of the children would trek through the mountains in the early hours of the morning and in the rain by themselves in order to get to school.

I was very inspired by the strength of the people in Talaingod.  Before we left the community, the Datu of Duliyan said to us: “When you stand up for your community, you will get support for your cause.  Indigenous peoples are slowly becoming more liberated through struggle.”  

The children performing a drama about the armed struggle of their community against the logging companies in the 1990s.

After finally getting out of Manila, I arrived in Davao city in Mindanao on July 11.  Davao is the second biggest city outside Manila and interestingly is also the center of durian production in the Philippines.  Much of Mindanao is considered an Asia Pacific Economic Zone, which is an area targeted for economic growth and development because of its abundance in natural resources – gold, diamond, lead, copper, etc., as well as fertile land.  Despite its wealth, Mindanao has 6 of the 10 poorest provinces in the Philippines, and the highest incidence of hunger in the country.  As 7 out of 10 farmers here are tenants and not owners, the landlords dictate what to plant, which are products geared for profit.  I learned that the biggest exports of this region are:

1) Rubber, mostly to the US.  Explains why there are so many tire stores in Davao!

2) Cacao.  The price of chocolates here is about the same in Canada.

3) Pineapple.  Dole owns most of the pineapple plantations.

4) Banana.  Most of them actually go to Iraq and the US.

5) Coffee

6) Cassava

7) Coconut

Besides all that, Davao itself is a lovely city!  The streets are cleaner and less congested than Manila, and more importantly it is rarely affected by the typhoons that hit Luzon.  

One of the communities I visited in Manila was a group of women workers who produce fish hooks who were picketing their employer, Mustad, for closing down the factory on May 24.  While in Manila I stayed at the office of Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), the May First Movement, a mass organization that organizes workers in the Philippines, and they invited me to go visit this group of women with Anna and Havin from Kurdish Women for Peace in Germany.  

As I can’t seem to remember the last time that I joined workers on the picket line, I really didn’t know what to expect.  When we arrived at the site, we saw a little hut that was draped almost completely with militant banners. There were about 8 women and their daughters who welcomed us. These women had been working for Mustad for 15 – 22 years, and over night the company told them that the company was shutting down and were only offered half of their vacation pay.  There were 169 workers affected, almost all women.  The women are currently demanding their full vacation pay, as well as their separation pay and all the benefits that they are entitled to under their collective bargaining agreement. 

As they described their job to me, I was surprised to learn about how difficult it was. Each day they were required to meet a quota depending on the type of hook they were working on.  They used feathers from chicken, peacocks, squirrels, fox hair and placed them through tiny hooks to make bait.  The hooks they worked with were so sharp that for the workers it was “normal to get injured” and see blood drip.  A worker described how the hook would sometimes get caught in the flesh of her finger, and the manager would have to use a screwdriver to pry it out of her!  They were also exposed to a variety of strong chemicals without gloves, such as lactite and thinner. 

On average the workers have been employed for more than 15 years, and they earned around P457 - P464, which is about $10 a day.  The minimum wage is P404.  Most of them live far from the factory, so they would spend about P100 on transportation.  

Mustad is a Norwegian transnational company based in 13 other countries.  According to the workers, the company’s plans isn’t to shut down completely, but are to re-open in the adjacent factory and resume its operations by hiring new workers.  A common strategy for union-busting!

The area where the tent is set up is considered a high risk area for dengue, but the women continue to picket.  Most of them say that their families have been supportive, and that some of their husbands helped them build their little home.  To pass time the workers organize cultural nights and produce income-generating products. There are about 31 workers rotating to stay in the tent throughout the week.  They all agreed when one of the workers said “we are happy on strike together.”  The workers and organizers were so friendly and strong!  We spent much of the time talking and laughing about their little hut, and at one point even singing.  

July 4th in the Philippines is recognized as Philippine-American Friendship Day to honor the longtime partnership between the two nations.  However, while Americans are celebrating their national independence, the Philippines continues to serve essentially as a colony of the US.  There are American military bases around the country and the Philippines can only purchase arms from the US, American culture and language is pervasive, and many jobs are geared towards colonial countries (e.g. nurses). What a balanced friendship!

Progressives and social justice organizations mobilize on this day to expose the unequal relations between the US and the Philippines and to highlight the impact of US imperialism and militarization here and around the world.
There were well over 1000 people from various organizations joining the march to the US embassy.  However, we were met with police at several different routes, who later turned violent on us.

Council for Health and Development staff

The closest we got to the US embassy was about 2 blocks.  Apparantly the US embassy is more guarded than the presidential palace!

Some of the aftermath from the police brutality.  Note: there is blood in the following pictures.

I was pretty starstruck when I realized it was Dr. Julie! 

So I’ve been in the Philippines for a couple of weeks now and I have about a million pictures to post.  Here is a short recap of my first few days in Manila:

Heading to the mall

Chow down at Jollibee

A visit to the Philippine General Hospital to attend a forum organized by Health Alliance for Democracy

Forum on the urban poor situation: In Manila there is a massive demolition under way and affecting over 500 000 homes in urban communities.  

Some of the homes that are under threat of demolition.

Another forum, this time it was the Forum on International Development and Cooperation in Asia.  This was an awesome panel on the situation of migrant workers, women, workers, and peasants in Asia.

Delegates from Kenya and Philippines