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Claver tags GMA liable for Kalinga pangat's murder

TABUK, Kalinga (June 12) — Former Kalinga congressman and founding chairperson of the Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA) Atty. William “Billy” Claver tagged the GMA administration responsible for the death of Kalinga Pangat (peacepact holder) Rafael Markus Bangit, who was shot dead on June 8 by a bonnet-wearing gunman in Echague, Isabela province. Bangit, who belongs to the Malbong tribe in Tomiangan, Tabuk, Kalinga, and his eldest son were bound for Baguio that day.

“I lay the blame on the government of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA),” said Claver, who has known Bangit as a young man at the height of the Kalinga and Bontoc peoples’ struggle against the World Bank-funded Chico Dams in the 1970s. “It is a known fact that the military implements this nationwide spate of killings, and GMA is to blame, with her policies of violence” he said, citing the Calibrated Preemptive Response (CPR) and Presidential Proclamation 1017.

Bangit was the current regional coordinator of the Binodngan People’s Organization (BPO), Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA) Elders Desk, and the present vice chairperson of Bayan Muna-Kalinga. As a pangat, he holds a peacepact with the Dangtalan tribe of Pasil.

Humble and unassuming

“Rafael was always a humble fellow, always unassuming and behind himself. He was never a braggart, and he never presumed to be the know-all leader of Kalinga. He was always at the forefront of organizing people’s organizations,”added Claver.

The broadening movement from the Chico Dams struggle and the Kalinga-Bontok Peacepact Holders Association (KBPPHA) spawned the CPA in 1984.

Bangit was CPA-Kalinga secretary general from 1995 to 1998.

Claver countered statements labeling Bangit a member of the underground New People’s Army (NPA). “They have tagged Rafael a terrorist; Markus was never a terrorist, neither was he ever a member of the NPA,” he declared.

“There is nothing I will forget about Rafael. I first met him as a young student, when his father sent him to me during the anti-Chico dams struggle and he was already in the Army’s wanted list then. Since then, I could always rely on Rafael in our work in the campaign against the dams,” he added.

Tribute, indignation rally

A tribute on June 11 at the Bangit residence in Dagupan Centro, attended by friends, colleagues, and Bangit’s friends from the local academe and government unit, including Tabuk Mayor Camilo Lammawin, Jr.

After church service on June 12, an indignation rally was held from the St. Joseph Parish Church towards the Tabuk Municipal Hall, where another program was held. Speakers from Bayan Muna Kalinga and the local government. Bishop Renato Abibico also delivered a statement during the said activity.

A caravan brought Bangit home to his village in Tomiangan, one and a half hour’s drive from the provincial center.

Two nights before the burial, members of the Dangtalan tribe of which Bangit keeps a peacepact with (ka-bodong) his tribe, arrived in Tomiangan to pay their respects to the clan and Malbong tribe. Rituals were likewise observed.

NPA condemns killing

In a handwritten statement read during the wake, the Lejo Cawilan Command of the New People’s Army in Kalinga province condemned the killing of Bangit and supported the Kalinga peoples’ cry for justice for the slain tribal peacemaker. The said NPA command likewise decried statements branding Bangit an NPA.

“Ni Markus Bangit ket sigud a vice chairperson ti Bayan Muna Kalinga ken secretary general ti Binodngan Peoples Organization… saan nga NPA, saan a kriminal, ken saan nga terorista isuna”, the statement read (Markus Bangit was the vice chairperson of Bayan Muna-Kalinga and the secretary general of the Binodngan Peoples Organization. He is not a member of the NPA, nor is he a criminal or a terrorist). The statement was signed by Ka Raya Bannawagan. # Abigail Taguba Bengwayan for NORDIS

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