Manobos release one of 3 DENR hostages

Manobo tribesmen in Agusan del Sur, who took three personnel of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) hostage last week, released one of them last Monday.

Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Antonio Cerilles said Juan Perez, an officer of the community environment and natural resources office in Bayugan, Agusan del Sur, was freed unharmed by the Manobo tribesmen, led by one Datu Ligaan, in Barangay Padiay, Sibagat town.

Still being kept hostage are forester and planning officer Meliton Legaspi and driver Raymundo Retondo.

Primitivo Galinato, DENR regional executive director, informed Cerilles that Datu Ligaan's group is demanding the immediate release of funds from the National Commission for Indigenous People for the processing of their certificates of ancestral domain.

Galinato said the lumads (uplanders) are also seeking the immediate release of a permit allowing them to transport their remaining burned logs to earn money for the school expenses of their children.