by Keith Kristoffer Bacongco/LRC-KsK-FOE Philippines-Davao

LAKE SEBU, South Cotabato (LRC-KsK/FOE Philippines-Davao) — Nestled on top of the Daguma Mountain Range, sitio Datal Bonlangon of barangay Ned in Lake Sebu, South Cotabato is home to T’boli villagers who were robbed of their rights to their ancestral land and deprived of their economic activities.

Once a farming village of indigenous peoples, the land is now a vast coffee plantation that straddles the towns of Kalamansig, Palimbang, Isulan, Bagumbayan, all in Sultan Kudarat province and the towns of Lake Sebu in South Cotabato and Maitum in Sarangani. The plantation forbids the T’boli villagers from expanding their own farmland.   [read on]