But Father Ariel Destora, Social Action Center director of the Diocese of Marbel in South Cotabato province said tribal chieftain, Datu Victor Danyan was not a rebel but the chair of a legal organization, the T’ T’boli-Manobo S’daf Claimant Organization (TAMASCO).

The group is fighting to prevent coal-mining firms setting up mines on their ancestral lands…

Ryan Lariba, a coordinator of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, an alliance of left-wing organizations, said all the victims were civilians opposed to coal mining and coffee plantation ventures in their area.

“There are NPA rebels operating in the area but those killed were not communist rebels but civilians,” Lariba said.