The couple reportedly went to the forested area just to gather wood and sell them to buy school supplies for their children.
CAGAYAN DE ORO — Indigenous people’s organizations denounced the killing of a Lumad woman after the military admittedly mistook her and her husband as members of the New People’s Army (NPA) in Sitio Mahayag, Barangay Saint Peter, Malaybalay City, Bukidnon, on June 15.
The slain victim was identified as Nenita Buscada. Her husband was reportedly wounded and currently recuperating in a hospital.
For a network of Indigenous women’s organizations, the incident was not a simple mistake or misencounter but a violation of the rights of civilians amid armed conflict under international humanitarian law (IHL).
“The apology of Lt. Col. Arnold Bautista, commanding officer of the Philippine Army’s 88th Infantry Battalion, was not enough. These words were pointless in front of a life that was taken, families bereaved, and communities victimized by militarization,” Kim Falyao, national coordinator of Bai Indigenous Women’s Network, said in a statement in Filipino.
Bautista said in an interview with Bombo Radyo Malaybalay that soldiers at a military detachment in the area went down as part of their relieving assignment when they faced the couple. He claimed that the soldiers saw a pistol belonging to one of them and they opened fire.
The military official who said that they have a goal to end the insurgency in the area in June 2026 stressed that some of the troops involved were victims of an NPA ambush in the same area in 2024 where soldiers got killed.
A netizen who introduced herself as Buscada’s relative commented in the same interview posted on Facebook and called for justice, saying that the couple reportedly went to the forested area just to gather wood and sell them to buy school supplies for their children.
Bulatlat reached out to the supposed relative on June 18 but there was no response as of this writing.
Datu Janjan Lailay, Buscada’s relative, told XFM Bukidnon in an interview that the initial discussion was about forwarding the case under their Tribal Justice System since the incident took place within their ancestral land. He ensured that there would be a dialogue to achieve justice.
Lailay said that Buscada was an active participant in the counterinsurgency program and helped organize women in their community. He added that the victim’s sons are members of the Citizen Armed Force Geographical Unit (CAFGU), an auxiliary force of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).
The Bai Indigenous Women’s Network said that the demand for justice does not end with the military’s apology.
The Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology Indigenous People Student Advocates (MIPSA) called for an immediate, transparent, impartial, and independent investigation into the killing, adding that it should not be controlled solely by the AFP.
“We also call for the immediate protection of the victim’s family and community from intimidation, harassment, or pressure while the investigation is ongoing,” MIPSA said in a statement.
The Kalipunan ng Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas (Katribu), an alliance of Indigenous people’s organizations, said that the military should be held accountable for reckless shooting at civilians. (DAA)
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