Military detachments have been sprouting like mushrooms in Northern Mindanao
even amid the pandemic. In a statement released last July 28, the Revolutionary
Organization of Lumad in the region hit the nonstop construction of military
facilities and added that they expect nothing new from Duterte’s “new normal.”

The AFP constructed no less than six detachments in the last five months alone.
These can be found in Barangay Durian, Las Nieves, Agusan del Norte; Barangay
Balagnan, Esperanza, Agusan del Sur; Sitio Kipunay, Barangay Eureka, Gingoog
City, Misamis Oriental; Sitio Pangagpungan, Barangay Kalabuan, Esperanza,
Agusan del Sur; and, Sitio Mahayag, Barangay Namnam, San Fernando, Bukidnon.

These areas have zero anti-Covid capabilities and rely on almost unpaid
volunteers for their medical needs. These structures stand testament to
Duterte’s obsession of beefing up the military and its counterinsurgency
campaign.

Lumad and peasant communities have long experienced military lockdowns where
the movement and rights of the people are severely restricted, the group said.
The ROL said under the so-called new normal, Duterte merely wants the people to
accept hunger and hardship, terror and tyranny as their daily reality.