10 Oct 2011

PHILIPPINES / MINDANAO ISLAND

According to UNHCR, nearly 100,000 people have been displaced in Mindanao Island for over five decades due a separatist struggle. UNHCR

Posted at: October 10, 2011 1:05 pm

Duration: 03:14

Available in: SD

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Full script

STORY: PHILIPPINES / MIDANAO ISLAND
TRT: 3:14
SOURCE: UNHCRRESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: FILIPINO / ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 7 JULY 2011 MINDANAO ISLAND, PHILIPPINES

SHOTLIST

1. Wide shot, Rodolfo Bello Moafog, Village leader walking toward farmer pulling wood
2. Med shot, Rodolfo Bello Moafog holding baby
3. Wide shot of Teduray camp  
4. SOUNDBITE (Filipino) Rodolfo Bello Moafog, Village Chief, Sitio Kewagib: 
"Before we could eat three times a day but now because of the situation we are displaced here.  So instead of eating three times a day we only eat once."
5. Med shot, children eating in hut  
6. Villager pealing tree bark 
7. Close up, villager tying wood  
8. Wide shot, Teduray religious ceremony 
9. SOUNDBITE (Filipino) Rodrigo M. Mokudef, Tribal Priest:    "I appeal to the wind to bring us to a good place for our safety on this earth." various of the ceremony 
10. Wide shot of camp 
11. Wide shot of camp villagers in front of hut 
12. Med shot, villagers in front of hut13. Close up, villagers in front of hut
14. SOUNDBITE (Filippino) Rodolfo Bello Moafog, Village Chief, Sitio Kewagib "It's like you're a non-person if you don't have education. You're almost not acknowledged as a human being."
15. Close up, armed group sitting
16. Med shot, armed man standing close up
17. Wide shot, Froilyn Mendoza walking toward children playingSOUNDBITE (English) Froilyn Mendoza, Coordinator, Téduray Lambangian Women's Organization:"What we want from the government is that they will become peaceful.  That the government will look into the injustices they are doing.   Because they said we are peace loving people.  Why these things are happening to us?"
18. Various shots, UNHCR educating the villagers
19. SOUNDBITE (English)  Froilyn Mendoza, Coordinator, Téduray Lambangian Women's Organization "We have petitions to the government to see these things addressed.  I cannot totally say if they care for us or doesn't care for us because things are still on the process.  But the experience usually is that we are left behind." 
20. Women playing gongs walking toward camera, passing by and walking away

STORYLINE:

In the southern Philippines an uneasy calm has settled over Mindanao Island. For over five decades a separatist struggle has torn away at this region,leaving almost 100,000 people displaced.One year ago 56 members of the Teduray tribe were forced to flee their homeland.

Their leader Rodolfo Bello Moafog said an armed group attacked his village, killing two people and forcing them to run. They took temporary refuge near the town of Timanan.

SOUNDBITE (Filipino) Rodolfo Bello Moafog, Village Chief, Sitio Kewagib: 
"Before we could eat three times a day but now because of the situation we are displaced here.  So instead of eating three times a day we only eat once."

The Teduray are traditionally forest people.  Their remote lifestyle offers little schooling and keeps them isolated. As animists, the Teduray look to the spirits for protection and a way home.

SOUNDBITE (Filipino)  Rodrigo M. Mokudef, Tribal Priest:   
"I appeal to the wind to bring us to a good place for our safety on this earth."

In 1997 The Philippines passed the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act to protect ancestral domain rights and prevent discrimination.  However tribes like the Teduray often lack documents proving land ownership leaving them vulnerable to land theft.

SOUNDBITE (Filippino) Rodolfo Bello Moafog, Village Chief, Sitio Kewagib: 
"It's like you're a non-person if you don't have education. You're almost not acknowledged as a human being."

The Teduray say they just want to go home.  But an armed group threatens their safety. Froilyn Mendoza is a grassroots organizer for the Teduray.

SOUNDBITE (English) Froilyn Mendoza, Coordinator, Téduray Lambangian Women's Organization: "What we want from the government is that they will become peaceful.  That the government will look into the injustices they are doing.   Because they said we are peace loving people.  Why these things are happening to us?"

The villagers asked UNHCR for education on their rights.  Now the Teduray are petitioning the government for a road, school, potable water and agricultural assistance.

SOUNDBITE (English) Froilyn Mendoza, Coordinator, Téduray Lambangian Women's Organization: 
"We have petitions to the government to see these things addressed.  I cannot totally say if they care for us or doesn't care for us because things are still on the process.  But the experience usually is that we are left behind."

The Teduray hope a higher power will intervene,only security and enforced land rights will allow them to go home.

Filed under 11. - EDUCATION 13.01.00 - PROTECTION OF AND ASSISTANCE TO REFUGEES AND DISPLACED PERSONS PHILIPPINES UNHCR - Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.