BANGSAMORO Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Barmm) Chief Minister Abdulraof Macacua vowed to launch a full investigation into the brutal beheading of a Teduray tribal leader in Datu Hoffer, Maguindanao del Sur, the latest in a string of violent attacks on non-Moro Indigenous Peoples (IPs) tied to ancestral land disputes. The victim, 60-year-old Nel Lupos, a former village councilor, was killed by armed men who stormed his nipa hut on September 30. Lupos is the 102nd non-Moro IP leader killed in BARMM in connection with ancestral land conflicts, according to Timuay Leticio Datuwata, head of the Timuay Justice and Governance of the Teduray-Lambangian tribe. Despite military deployment in the area, attacks have continued, with several tribal leaders being killed in recent years. Datuwata blamed the same armed group for the series of killings, saying that the violence targets tribesmen who refuse to give up their ancestral lands, and called for stronger state protection for non-Moro IP communities in Barmm.
