Lumad woman mistaken for NPA, killed by military

📷: Nenita Buscada (Bai Indigenous Women’s Network / FB) 

The Bai Indigenous Women’s Network has condemned the killing of Nenita Buscada, an Indigenous woman shot dead by soldiers of the Philippine Army’s 88th Infantry Battalion in Brgy. St. Peter, Malaybalay City, Bukidnon on June 15.

According to the group, Nenita and her husband were gathering firewood with two other civilians to earn money for their children’s school supplies when soldiers opened fire, suspecting them of being New People’s Army members.

Nenita was declared dead on arrival at the hospital, while her husband remains under treatment.

“This is not a mere ‘misencounter.’ It is a blatant violation of International Humanitarian Law and the rights of civilians in armed conflict,” Bai Indigenous Women’s Network said in a statement.

The group stressed that the apology issued by Lt. Col. Arnold Bautista, commander of the 88th IB, was meaningless in the face of “a life stolen, a family left behind, and a community terrorized by militarization.”

“Justice for Nenita is not found in words of regret. True justice means dismantling military camps in our territories, ending militarization and bombings, and respecting our right to self-determination and ancestral land,” they further declared.

The organization emphasized that Indigenous women bear the brunt of militarization.

“We are mothers robbed of husbands, children left without mothers, and communities stripped of livelihood and security.”

Calling the killing an attack not only on an individual but on the entire Indigenous people, Bai warned that bloodshed will continue unless the roots of armed conflict are addressed and peace talks resume.  # (RRN)