Regletto Aldrich Imbong, assistant professor of philosophy at University of the Philippines-Cebu, called out the Pinag-isang Lakas ng mga Progresibong Atenista (Piglasapat) on his Facebook and Twitter accounts earlier this morning for misquoting his study in the political club’s official statement on the recent attacks in UCCP-Haran, which houses around 500 Lumad evacuees.
Piglasapat cited the studies of Imbong and two other authors as Piglasapat’s references to the issue, stating that, according to them, “the two armed uprisings in Mindanao, the rise of Muslim secessionist movement and the armed communist revolution of CPP-NPA-NDF contributed to the displacement and marginalization of Lumads since they are caught in between the war between the state military and rebels.”
Imbong, however, said that the political club’s claim “misrepresents” the argument that he underlined in his article entitled “Forging a Just and Lasting Peace in the Philippines,” which was published last year (https://doi.org/10.1080/10402659.2019.1613598).
“This claim, at the very least, misrepresents the argument that I advanced in my article, and at worst, manifests a lack of genuine scholarship,” the author stressed.
Imbong clarified that what he stated is that “the Lumads’ struggle for their ancestral domains resulted in their hard-lined anti-mining stand.”
He pointed out that the military “maligned” the Lumad community’s stand on mining “as mere communist propaganda, thus vilifying the Lumads along the way, and justifying their assassination.”
Imbong suggested that the writers who composed the political club’s official statement should have anticipated a very important claim in his article “had they carefully reflected on the statements I previously mentioned.”
“And what is this claim? That ‘thousands of Lumads have evacuated DUE TO HEIGHTENED MILITARIZATION, harassments, and killings in the hinterlands.’ It is not that the oppressed waged an armed rebellion that their co-oppressed eventually are displaced. But it is that STATE OPPRESSION AND VIOLENCE caused these massive displacements and evacuations,” Imbong clarified.
Imbong further refuted other contentions of Piglasapat in their statement, including the claim that the lives of Lumads were heavily disturbed and destroyed by “external forces.”
“Here reverberates a not so scholarly contention but an archaic explanation of the military whenever individuals, sectors, and groups are ‘radicalized,’ or, in other words, ‘brainwashed,’” he said.
Imbong questioned whether the political organization experienced immersion and living with the Lumads “to implicitly conclude that they are incapable of thinking and determining for themselves their destiny.”
“The Lumads have a historical struggle. Long before what PIGLASAPAT described as ‘propagandists and extremist groups existed, the Lumads have already waged valiant battles against various forms of oppression,” he added.
He also said that the Piglasapat, who claim to be “university scholars,” must have done “basic readings in history for them not to fall into and reecho outdated claims of the military, i.e., that the Lumads are simply used by external forces and interest groups.”
He challenged Piglasapat to live with the Lumads in UCCP Haran “even just for a week” for verification.
Following Imbong’s post on Facebook, Piglasapat reached the author and asked for an apology. According to the addendum of Imbong in his original post, the group said that “it was a significant learning experience to be extra careful in research and to put in high regard to scholarship.”
“I accepted their apology and explained that I merely defended myself on a reading which does not represent my views,” Imbong said.
“Scholarship is not a matter of eclectic picking of ideas from sources we find most convenient and comfortable. Scholarship is disturbing convenience and comfort ” he concluded.
Consequently, Piglasapat took down the said official statement posted online. However, Atenews was able to save the original post of Piglasapat’s statement “Call for Vigilance.”
Call for Vigilance
“The indigenous peoples of Mindanao which are collectively known as the Lumads have been historically subjected to marginalization, violence and struggles. According to Cabayao (2019), 61% of the indigenous peoples in the Philippines are Lumads settling in Mindanao.
Calendaria (2018) and Imbong (2019) state that the two armed uprisings in Mindanao, the rise of Muslim secessionist movement and the armed communist revolution of CPP-NPA-NDF contributed to the displacement and marginalization of Lumads since they are caught in between the war between the state military and rebels. The surge of industrialization orchestrated by industries and capitalists also produced significant share in the displacement and violence done towards the Lumads.
In reality, the Lumads and their ways of life have not just be heavily disturbed but were destroyed by many external factors, which have pushed them to divide and to submit their fate to platforms and groups in order for them to advance their rights.
PIGLASAPAT strongly condemns all violent acts committed towards the Lumad by state military, paramilitaries, propandists and extremist groups. We call for the government to genuinely safeguard and promote the human rights of the IPs and penalized those who committed abuse and violence towards them.
To the Ateneo, we call to uphold vigilance and courage to stand with the Lumads as university’s scholars, we must maximize our resources to supplement informed opinions to other people about the realities and complexities of the Lumad issue and how can we proactively help them.
Finally, in a polarized cyberspace, we put high regard to truth especially in the advancement of Lumad rights, that is why we challenge the community to do research in order to support our analysis and stand about this crucial issue. Listen to the real stories of the Lumads.”
Atenews reached out to Piglasapat to ask for their response regarding this matter. As of press time, the political group has not yet responded.