Business/Economic News Output No: 7

Name: Axel O. Navaritte

Subject: Managerial Economics
Section: BSA-1C

Lumad School Teacher Slain, Red-Tagged by Military

(News Title)

(Name of Author)

1. What is the news all about?

The news is about Rowe Jhon Libot’s death by the military which follows a
patten of attacks against Lumad schools. To the students of Lumad Bakwit School in
Sultan Kudarat, Rowe Jhon Libot was a teacher. He was a friend and dedicated
scholar to his colleagues at Mindanao Interfaith Services Foundation. But for the
military, he was an enemy.
Libot, on his way to volunteer in a medical and food caravan in General Santos
City, was killed by the 37th Infantry Battalion (IB) of the Armed Forces of the
Philippines (AFP) last July 27. His death was only confirmed on Friday by the Save
Our Schools (SOS) Network where he volunteered. AFP and Kalamansig, Sultan
Kudarat police’s official incident report insist that Libot and his two company fired
without warrant at the officers. The brigade retaliated and killed Libot during the
alleged encounter, while the two were captured at a later incident. But ommunities
near the place of the incident told SOS Network that only three gunshots were heard,
suggesting that there was no exchange of gunfire.
From 2017 to 2019, SOS Network documented 584 cases of militarization in
Lumad schools. The 37th IB’s commander Michael Santos considered the operation a
“mission accomplished.” Yet in the same vein, Santos said that the government and
military wish to foster peace in the province. This is not the first time the AFP killed a
volunteer teacher. Chad Booc, a Lumad school teacher, was also killed by the military
last year in a similar manner. Booc, along with four others, were tagged by the military
as terrorist recruiters. Lumad schools have also witnessed multiple instances of red-
tagging from state forces and bombing in 2017. Last year, Vice President Sara
Duterte said that the Lumad have become a breeding ground of terrorism, defending
the government’s decision to shut down their schools.

2. What is/are the issues or problematic situations that can be drawn from the
topic?

The problematic situation in the topic is the excessive red tagging that Lumads
receive from the government and the military. They always have the same narrative,
that the innocent teacher killed was a part of the NPA group, similar to what they did
before wherein they will say that they had no choice but to shot the person because
they fought back, when in fact they could’ve fired a warning shot instead. This
continuous incident of killing is a traumatic experience especially to the Lumad
students since they have lost another teacher. It’s as if the government is preventing
them from having any rights to education. This is a very problematic issue because
Lumad is an indigenous group and they need to be protected. They are a citizen of this
country and the military should protect it’s citizen, not the one harming them.

3. As a business manager/economic leader, what recommendations can you

propose in order to address the above-stated issues or problems?

My recommendation is for the government to provide a support to this

indigenous group by giving them the rights to education that they truly deserve
without having to transfer them in another place, far away from their home. As for the
military, they should judge the situation carefully before using their gun against a
citizen. It’s as if they no longer have the ability to think carefully, they will just fire
their gun instantly towards a suspicious citizen, and if this will be left as is, it will
create a bigger problematic issue on our country. The citizens will fear the military and
could possibly lose their trust with them.