BERN, Switzerland (MindaNews / 31 January) – What was behind the tumult in Surigao City that was caused by an enigmatic group that mixes religious beliefs with political ideology? Is it fair to dismiss the group as just a group of misguided crackpots?
Last January 24, a previously unknown group calling itself the Federal Tribal Group of the Philippines or FTGP had attempted to lock down several stores in the city, claiming that these businesses were built on their ancestral land and had not obtained consent from them. Some members also blocked vehicles on the national highway in Barangay Sabang.
The claims were ridiculous and the bold actions – carried out by FTGP members who were armed with knives and samurais – had caused an uproar in the city.
“What’s happening in our city?” aghast Surigaonons had posted in the internet.
Many of the FTGP members were not even from the city or were not members of any indigenous tribe, with some coming from as far away as Davao and Surigao del Sur. Among them were a carpenter and a soldier. All of them said they were promised by the FTGP leader, a certain Jorgeto Santisas or Datu Adlaw, a monthly allowance of P25,000 to be paid to a Landbank account that they would open. But the members had to shell out a membership fee of P1,200.
“Adlaw” had claimed that the entire Surigao city and Surigao del Sur belong to their ancestral domain and citing a law, Republic Act 8371, he said the local businesses had not secured from them a supposed Land Occupancy Certificate.
But the leaders of the FTGP were internet-savvy, broadcasting their actions live over Facebook/Meta. One female leader, Bae Lourdes Infante, had even threatened over Facebook/Meta that “blood would flow” if the police would not free a member that they had arrested for illegal possession of a deadly weapon—carrying a bolo in public.
But ultimately, the widespread uproar in the city died down after some of the members were arrested and the city government practically threw the whole legal book at them. The city police said they filed up to 10 criminal charges against FTGP leaders, among them malicious mischief, alarm and scandal, grave coercion, usurpation of authority, violation of the election gun ban, physical injury, serious illegal detention, grave threats, cyber libel and multiple violations of the Cybercrime Prevention Act.
But a week after, the questions remain: What were the real intentions of the FTGP in launching their bold public action? Is politics behind their intended takeover of local businesses reportedly to address historical injustice?
Balgamelo “Baby” Ma, a former city official, claims that the FTGP’s actions were timed to cover up another controversy, the reported illegal mining by Chinese nationals in another village, barangay Mat-i. “There were Chinese nationals arrested in Barangay Mat-i for illegal mining, that news was selling like hotcakes around that time,” claimed Ma in a video that was posted on Facebook/Meta.
Ma is the former city administrator allied with the Matugas political clan, which is contesting local positions with the current province and city leaders, the Barbers and the Dumlao leadership.
The mayor, Pablo Yves Dumlao II, was apparently a target of the FTGP actions, with the leaders repeatedly airing calls for Dumlao to step down or be replaced.
Ma also claimed that the action was intended to publicly shame the Matugas clan in time for the May 2025 elections, with the Matugases to be blamed for hatching the plot.
But what would Dumlao stand to gain, when he was already criticized for being caught unaware and not obtaining the intelligence information to stop the FTGP and their lockups plan?
The Surigao Historical Society, meanwhile, said they had noticed from the utterances of the leaders a tendency to espouse a Christian “millenarian” belief in the second coming of Christ. “There is the strong belief that Surigao is the promised land,” said the SHS.
A millenarian viewpoint claims that Christ’s second coming would bring a thousand-year reign of justice, happiness and peace.
Judging from the Facebook/Meta posts linked to the FTGP, they also noticed the leaders seem to espouse the causes of agrarian revolt, even using symbols and the language of the communist-led Philippine revolution that was started in 1968.
“(There are) nativistic (but also) aberrant manifestations of the Christian faith and the Catholic religion,” said the SHS, which noted that Surigao has no surfeit of religious sects that are led by extremely charismatic leaders who used their supposed “divine” powers to heal the sicknesses of their members or their family members, or who promised them justice for the injustices done to the members.
The FTGP members were even mistaken by city residents for members of the “pulahan,” a local sect, for wearing red scarves or adorning their bolos with red cloths. They said their bolos are a sign of “justice” and their slogan is “God is justice.”
Among the religious sects and cults in the province known for their millenarian beliefs and strict hierarchy and loyalty to their founders are the Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association or PBMA formed by Ruben Ecleo Sr. and based in Dinagat island, and the Socorro Bayanihan Services Inc. (SBSI), whose top leaders were charged for the alleged systematic rape, trafficking, forced labor, child marriage, and drug trafficking that was committed by the group in their island haven of Socorro.
(MindaViews is the opinion section of MindaNews. Brady Eviota wrote and edited for the now defunct Media Mindanao News Service in Davao and also for SunStar Cagayan de Oro. He is from Surigao City and now lives in Bern, the Swiss capital located near the Bernese Alps)
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