BJMP Officer apologizes to Blaan tribe over “Patay Gutom” FB post

October 23, 2020 Admin

BJMP Officer apologizes to Blaan tribe over “Patay Gutom” FB post

BJMP official is apologizing after a controversial Patay Gutom post to the Blaan tribe on social media.

Bluntly written on her Facebook account, “PARA SA MGA B’LAAN NA MGA DEAD HUNGRY” and then ends with rolling on the floor laughing emojis.

Jail Officer 3 (JO3) Norie May D Labastin from BJMP Davao del Sur, made that post in September 2020.

Right away, the reaction turned against her. In an hour of making the post, she took it down. That post was in screen-captured shared widely on social media.

Labastin said she made the post without the intention of discriminating or demoralizing the BLAAN tribe.

However, the Davao del Sur Provincial Tribal Council is not satisfied with her reason and demanded a public apology to the offended tribe.

READ: Posting photos wearing swimsuit on social media is not an administrative offense

On October 21, 2020, Labastin issued a public apology letter re: DEAD HUNGRY or Patay Gutom, which was later posted on National Commission on Indigenous People (NCIP) Region 11 Facebook page.

In her letter, she said, “It is my regret that due to my ignorance and lack of culture sensitivity, I have hurt your feelings and have disrespected your tribe. The word SORRY may just be a very simple word but I am hoping that it conveys my deepest feelings of remorse of what transpired.”

“I promise that this incident will never happen again and it is my heartfelt wish and prayer that after this incident, we will co-exist peacefully within our community and most of all in our country Philippines,” she added.

Our IPs are protected under Republic Act No. 8371 or The Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act of 1997 where the State shall guarantee that members of the ICCs/IPs regardless of sex, shall equally enjoy the full measure of human rights and freedoms without DISTINCTION or DISCRIMINATION.

The Davao del Sur Provincial Tribal Council considered this as a victory of their customary law in dealing with discrimination against our indigenous cultural communities/indigenous peoples (ICCs/IPs).