SUSPECTED Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) leader and Bayan Muna representative in Congress, Rep. Eufamia Cullamat, can no longer go home in her own province in Surigao del Sur, after an assembly of its tribal leaders decided to denounced her and declared her as ‘persona-non-grata’ (unwelcome person), the first member of Congress to be given such treatment by her own constituents.
Under Resolution No. 4, dated January 29, 2021, the League of Caraga Indigenous Peoples Mandatory Representatives (LCIPMR) in Surigao del Sur declared Cullamat as ‘persona non grata’ in the ancestral domains of the Manobo, Mamanwa, Mandaya, Higaonon and Banwaon Indigenous Cultural Communities or Indigenous Peoples.
It was also the same day that Cullamat and other members of the ‘Makabayan Bloc’ in Congress organized a demonstration in front of the main office of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP).
Although the lawmaker was not monitored to have issued a statement during the protest action, her presence was confirmation that she approved all the accusations the rallyists against the NCIP, particularly, the agency head, Allen Capuyan.
Capuyan, during the incident, had tried to engage the rallyists in a dialogue but his offer was angrily rebuffed.
In the resolution, the IPs in Cullamat’s own province noted, “…the latest rally staged on January 29, 2021, in front of the NCIP building along Quezon Avenue, Quezon City led by Bayan Muna Rep. Eufemia Cullamat and some protesters was a mere propaganda.
“They had no interest at all for dialogue even given the presence of NCIP chairperson, Allen Capuyan.
“This only proves that these groups will stop at nothing and will continue to misrepresent and to control the ICCs/IPs for their own personal gains and ideology.”
The tribal leaders also emphasized that Cullamat “does not and will not represent the ICCs/IPs of Caraga region.”
In a statement last February 4, 2021, Cullamat, as quoted by the Daily Tribune, retaliated by accusing the NCIP a “fake and fraudulent government agency” controlled by the government, the military and police and does not address even the basic needs of the IP.
The solon also said she “condemns the senseless declaration that I am a persona non grata who allegedly came from my fellow natives in my own native land.
“The allegations against me are baseless and fabricated; this is typical acts of defamation by the military and police,” Cullamat averred during the virtual press conference reported by the Tribune.
Bayan Muna and the entire Makabayan Bloc have been accused by the government as ‘CPP front organizations,’ an allegation boosted by the admission of CPP founder, Jose Maria Sison, that these groups consist the party’s “legal democratic forces” in the Philippines and as the “shield” that protects it and the New People’s Army (NPA) from being smashed by the government.
The government accusation that Cullamat is a CPP stalwart who tolerates armed resistance against the government was also bolstered after her own daughter, Jevilyn, was found to have joined the NPA.
Jevilyn was killed last November 28, 2020, during an encounter between her NPA unit and government troops from the 401st Infantry Brigade, Philippine Army, in Bgy. San Isidro, Marihatag, Surigao del Sur.
As such, Cullamat is also the first member of Congress to have been confirmed as having a member of her family as an active member of a terrorist organization.
Instead of showing remorse over her daughter’s fate, Cullamat at the time also issued a statement saying she is “proud” of her daughter’s decision to join the CPP in its armed effort to bring down the government.