“Emmanuel Piñol, vice governor of North Cotabato, has unmasked himself as a bully who has no qualms about abusing his powers to harass and threaten those he does not agree with,” the NUJP statement issued by National Council Vice President Nonoy Espina on November 9, said. The statement was e-mailed to MindaNews by the NUJP’s local chapter in Kidapawan on November 11. 

The NUJP statement noted that reports the NUJP received said “Piñol, backed by his security escorts, barged into the Radyo Natin station in Kidapawan City  to stop the broadcast of block time announcer Alberto Encarnacion, who had been criticizing the vice governor for allegedly grabbing land from indigenous people in Barangay Sinoda, Kitaotao, Bukidnon and Arakan, North Cotabato. The criticism apparently stemmed from a land-grabbing case filed against Piñol by the indigenous people.”         

The NUJP statement did not mention the date when Pinol confronted Encarnacion but MindaNews learned it was on October 29 at around 1 p.m. Encarnacion’s program is every Thursday from 12 noon to 1 p.m. 

‘No choice’

The NUJP said that based on reports, Encarnacion, a Manobo whose radio program caters to fellow IPs (indigenous peoples), and who is also a barangay captain of Meohaw, “was left with no choice but to face the angry Piñol.”

“Granting, without conceding, that Encarnacion went overboard in his criticism of Piñol, the vice governor had absolutely no right to force his way into the station, his thugs in tow, to threaten the announcer. We are sure Piñol, as a former broadcaster, also knows that there are other, legal, means to seek redress,” the NUJP statement said. 

“Apparently, Piñol has allowed the power he has wielded for quite some time to transform him into that stereotype of provincial Philippine politics – the tin pot tyrant, the warlord, who thinks that his every word is law and woe unto anyone who dares disagree,” the statement read.

“We urge our colleagues anywhere else in the country to close ranks and condemn this shameless abuse of authority. We demand that government, specifically the Department of Interior and Local Government, to investigate Vice Governor Piñol and sanction him for this clear assault on press freedom and freedom of expression,” the NUJP said.

‘Baseless’

But Pinol, who has several weekly radio programs in North Cotabato and Cotabato City, said the NUJP statement was baseless.

He told MindaNews in a text message late afternoon of November 11 that he called up NUJP president Nestor Burgos “asking him to allow me to confront Nonoy Espina who issued the statement.”

Pinol claimed the NUJP statement “was based on unverified reports. For info, I went to the (Radyo Natin) station to air my side in an unfair commentary made by a blocktimer, obviously a paid broadcaster,  (barangay) chairman Alberto Encarnacion …. There were only three of us and we were not carrying firearms. We sat and talked. I was angry but I did not threaten him. I am questioning NUJP’s statement because it was sweeping, careless and based on hearsay. There is a concerted effort to demolish me thru publicity. I hope you don’t become an unwitting tool. I am willing to meet the  NUJP officers anytime. I am still waiting for their response.”

Minutes later, MindaNews  received another message, apparently addressed to Burgos and cc’d MindaNews: “Mr. Nestor Burgos, president, NUJP. May I reiterate my request to meet with NUJP officers to discuss and give my side on the unfair and cruel statement issued by Mr. Nonoy Espina. I  hope this request will be granted for the sake of fairness.

Espina told MindaNews the statement was collegial.“I don’t know Pinol and have no reason to demolish him. NUJP statements are collegial and this one was based on info from the chapter who we have no reason to doubt.”

Mum

Encarnacion has kept mum. MindaNews has been trying to get in touch with him since the weekend  to find out exactly what happened on October 29 when Pinol reportedly harassed him but  Encarnacion didn’t reply to MindaNews’ message on November 7. Asked again last Sunday, November 8, Encarnacion replied, through text message,  “may assembly miting kami.” Asked what time was the best time to call him, he didn’t’ reply.

Subsequent messages and calls to Encarnacion on Monday, Tuesday and today, Wednesday, yielded no response. His phone just kept ringing.

Encarnacion, however, was interviewed on November 3 by DXCA Charm Radio in Kidapawan where he narrated how an angry Pinol warned him to stop his allegedly unfair report.

Encarnacion told DXCA that Pinol knocked on his booth three minutes before he was ending his program but that he ended his program first before facing Pinol.
He said Pinol told him, “I’m warning you. Untati nyo na ni na issue kay hindi tuod” (Stop this because it’s not true). 

Encarnacion was commenting on a report that Lumads in Sinoda, Kitaotao, Bukidnon, had filed a case against Pinol. 

Lumads vs Pinol

The Federation of Matigsalug and Manobo Tribal Councils (Femmatrics) last month sued Pi?ol for alleged “unlawful intrusion and encroachment” into their ancestral domain and “willful disregard and open violation of their right to ‘Free Prior Informed Consent.’

Datu Roelito A. Gawilan, tribal chieftain and Femmatrics chair, filed his affidavit-complaint to Bukidnon provincial prosecutor Mirabeaus Undalok  on October 6, charging Pinol for alleged violation of the penal provisions of the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act (IPRA)  of 1997, particularly Sections 72 and 73 thereof, of  Trespassing under the Revised Penal Code, of Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (R.A. 3019) and of the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees (R.A. 6713).

Pinol dismissed the charges as “ridiculous.”

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo awarded the tribe’s 70,000 members with a Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT) on October 31, 2003 in Davao City over a total land area of 102,324.8186 hectares. The area straddles  Bukidnon, Davao City, and Arakan Valley in North Cotabato.

Parts of the Femmatrics’ ancestral domain, are being occupied by non-Lumads, mostly the wealthy from Bukidnon, Davao City and neighboring North Cotabato, for vacation houses and plantations. The area boasts of a Baguio-like climate. 

In his affidavit, Gawilan said that sometime in February 2007, he received a report from the tribal leaders of Kulaman Valley in Arakan and Barangay Sagundanon in Kitaotao, Bukidnon that an Emmanuel Piñol acquired 300 hectares of land in Barangay Binoongan, Arakan, Cotabato –  a portion of their ancestral domain.

He said he immediately called for an investigation.

The investigation, Gawilan said, yielded the following information: that Piñol, then governor,  bought 300 hectares from Pablito B. Berdin, Selverio O. Mangga and Ruben Endao for P3 million paid in several installments.

“Ridiculous”

Pinol found the allegations “ridiculous.”

“How can I even be charged of trespassing or grabbing a piece of land that I have not taken possession of, or at the very least, seen with my own eyes? I don’t even know the exact location of the land,” he told MindaNews in a text message.

“Indeed, there was an offer by tribal leaders led by Datu Ruben Endao to lease the property to me to be planted to rubber but the deal has not progressed because I required them to present a certificate of prior consent from tribal leaders in the area,” he said.

But Pinol added, “Let them file it (complaint) so that the issues can be threshed out.”

He later said, “please inform Gawilan that he better be sure his charges will hold water otherwise I will file libel and malicious prosecution cases against him and his cohorts.” (Carolyn O. Arguillas/MindaNews)

---

Share this story through the following Social Media sites: