Leader, followers of bogus IP group in Surigao arrested
SAN FRANCISCO, AGUSAN DEL SUR—The leader and 19 followers of a bogus indigenous peoples group, called Federal Tribal Government of the Philippines (FTGP), were arrested in an early morning raid in their compound in Barangay Sabang, Surigao City, on Thursday.
The raid was carried out at 6 a.m. by joint police forces through of an arrest warrant issued by Judge Maureen Chua of the Municipal Trial Court in Cities Branch 2 for usurpation of authority. The court had set a bail of P30,000 for each accused.
Those arrested include Jorgeto Santisas, known to the group as “Datu Adlaw;” his partner Lourdes Infante; and 18 followers, including Santisas’ sister, Ester. The two women initially resisted arrest, confronting the police officers with invectives, during the serving of the warrant.
On Thursday, Infante was served another arrest warrant for unjust vexation.
During the raid, the City Social Welfare and Development Office in Surigao City rescued nine minors, an elderly and two mothers, mostly family members of Santisas’s followers, and took them under the agency’s protection.
Santisas had introduced himself to the public as the supreme adviser of FTGP which he claims to have ancestral domain rights over Surigao City under Republic Act No. 8371, or the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act.
Banking on this claim, Santisas, with his bolo-wielding followers in tow, padlocked several establishments in Surigao City on Jan. 24 due to their failure to supposedly seek a so-called land occupancy certificate and business permit from FTGP. He then threatened to expand their operations in the city’s nearby towns.
Santisas also ordered the establishment of a checkpoint just outside the group’s compound in Barangay Sabang, which the local police eventually dismantled.
NCIP warning
The Caraga regional office of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) had belied the legitimacy of FTGP, warning the public against dealing with its members.
Lt. Col. Mariano Lukban, acting city police chief of Surigao, said usurpation of authority was just one of four charges filed against FTGP members. Other charges included large-scale illegal recruitment, qualified trafficking in persons and multiple violations of the cybercrime law.
Rico “Datu Alinghian” Maca, secretary-general of the association of Indigenous Peoples Mandatory Representatives in Caraga, said FTGP had been recruiting mostly non-Lumad individuals, charging them P1,200 in membership fee. In return, members were promised P25,000 in monthly allowance.
A few weeks before the raid, a number of FTGP members recruited from Davao de Oro province sought the assistance of the Surigao City government so they could return to their hometowns.
