Rosalia Labanon

The following is a sad story written in remembrance of Rosalia Labanon. Rosalia was the secretary of the Barangay Tribal Council of barangay Altavista. She strongly believed in the IPRA law and personally committed herself to the protection of the ancestral domain of the Bagobo-Tagabawa. She had a heart for the environment and firmly spoke out against illegal logging operations in Bansalan. She was one of the people monitoring her area to report possible violations of logging prohibitions.

In April 2008, word got round that illegal commercial logging operations were taking place in purok 6 in Altavista. Rosalia, alarmed by the news, went up to the area and, seeing the violations, decided to contact local authorities to put a halt to the illegal logging. Her intervention triggered a chain of communications from the local level up to higher authorities. Through the office of the Protected Area Superintendent, a police detachment was sent to the area to stop the operation and confiscate the logged timber. It seemed that this case proved the effectiveness of coordinated action and it was assumed that those responsible for the illegal operation would be penalized accordingly.

But there was a catch… The people behind the enterprise had obtained a certificate at the municipal level under the pretence of non-commercial gathering of timber for the building of a police outpost in the barangay. The certificate was meant to cover the real intention, which was to supply and sell timber to a buyer from Manila. As the transaction fell through, those involved saw their business collapse and their secret deal exposed to the public. They knew that Rosalia had been the one to report the case to the authorities.

By an unfortunate twist of fate, Rosalia and Boy Alimento, one of the men behind the transaction, met each other at the Bansalan bus terminal, in the heart of the Poblacion. Rosalia publicly inquired about the status of the case, and Boy half-heartedly admitted that a warrant of arrest had been issued against them. Boy felt humiliated by Rosalia’s question, took his motorcycle and left Rosalia with the words: Makita na lang ta sa Altavista – We’ll see each other in Altavista. Rosalia had planned to visit her farm in Sunop and mounted one of the habal-habal motorcycles to take her up to her farm. On the way to Altavista, Boy blocked the road by parking his motorcycle across the path. He took out his sundang and stabbed Rosalia until she fell to the ground. Rosalia was rushed to the hospital, but died along the way…