MANILA (UCAN): Education officials in the Philippines ordered the closure of 55 schools catering to the Lumad indigenous in Davao, Mindanao, for allegedly teaching “left-leaning ideologies.”
 
In a June 12 order, the schools, run by the nonprofit Salugpongan Ta’ Tanu Igkanogon Community Learning Center Inc., were denied permits to operate for the upcoming 2019-20 school year.
 
The suspension was issued upon a recommendation made by national security adviser, Hermogenes Esperon, a retired general.

DAVAO (SE): A bomb blast ripped through the Roxas Night Market in Davao City on September 2 leaving 14 people dead, including a pregnant woman and her child, and 68 others injured in its wake.

Filipinos from Davao living in Hong Kong reported a sleepless night, with some unable to contact family and being left wondering overnight if they were safe or not. One described it as being a city of fear, as staying home or going out seem to be equally dangerous.

DAVAO CITY (UCAN): Charges of kidnapping and serious illegal detention filed against Pastor Jurie Jaime, two Catholic sisters and a group that gave assistance by providing accommodation to displaced tribal people in Mindanao last year, have been dropped.

“It is a vindication of our support for the legitimacy of the demands raised by the tribal people,” a lawyer, Carlos Isagani Zarate, a prominent human rights advocate and member of the Philippine congress, said.

MANILA (UCAN): At least five people, including two children, were hurt after unidentified men torched a Church-run evacuation centre in the southern Philippine city of Davao early on February 24.

“At least three men poured gasoline on the tent before lighting it,” Piya Macliing Malayao, the secretary-general of the tribal group, Katribu, said.

DAVAO (SE): Some 200 indigenous people have flocked to Davao City in the southern Philippines, saying that they had been forced to flee their homes in Compostela when they were intimidated by the Armed Forces of The Philippine in the Mangayon village area at the end of November.

UCAN reported they said that government soldiers had occupied the community school and their homes, claiming that they were looking for Communist rebels.